Cecil Beaton

Presents a collection of the works of English fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre, Cecil Beaton (1904-1980). Beaton is best known for his fashion photographs and society portraits. He worked as a staff photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue, during the 1930's and 40's, in addition to photographing celebrities in Hollywood. Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother was his favorite Royal subjects, in addition to taking the famous wedding pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Included are articles on various aspects of Beaton's art. The essay writers discuss Beaton's love of theatricality and artifice and its evidence in his style: subjects posed in period costume, shot against or reflected in mirrors, the photographer's own reflection visible in a photo, ironic and sometimes severely unflattering angles. Even his wartime photos have the oddly displaced quality of a stage set.