cecil beaton

Cecil beaton was born 1904 in hamerstead London

Cecils father was a rich timber merchant 

He would often use hes sister and mother to sit for him for pratice

Nancy Beaton

nancy posing for her brother

He went to harrow and then moved to st Johns college Cambridge and studied  

history Art and architecture

He left Cambridge without a degree in 1927

Beaton designed book jackets and costumes for charity matinees

He learned the craft of professional craft of photography at the studio of Paul tanqueray 

vogue took him on regularly in 1927 

Cecil Beaton was in love with the high society , theatre and the glamour and was of the original Bright young people , the famous group of the 20s and 30s pictured below

The Bright Young People at Wilsford: William Walton, Cecil Beaton,

 The Hon. Stephen Tennant, Rex Whistler, Georgia Sitwell, Zita Jungman and Teresa Jungman

Hes first published work was a slightly out of focus shot of him at the play

 webster's duchess of Malfi standing in sub-aqueous light outside of a men's toilet 

These photos where brought and published by vogue 

A tragic play written by john webster

Hes first camera was a Kodak 3a folding camera 

A great camera to learn photography on

 Beatons nanny taught him the basics of photography . 

The 3A Folding Pocket Kodak, Eastman Kodak's first postcard format camera

 It was introduced in 1903 and sold until 1915.

He was a photographer for the British edition of Vogue in 1931

Beaton is best known for his fashion photographs and society portraits. He worked as a staff photographer for vogue and vanity fair  in addition to photographing celebrities in Hollywood

Beaton has took many photos of the royal family hes favourite sister was the queen mother

during the war he was sent to the ministry of information to record images from the home front

This is hes famous image of a a 3 year old blitz victim and her teddy

After the war he also design sets and costumes for plays and films like gigi and my fair lady

he won a oscar for both films for costume design

Katharine Hepburn

I love this photo of Katharine Hepburn using some great props

I like the way he got her to pose on the ball and all the

large streamers in the background so many different tones and colours

in this great photo with a great composition .

Audrey Hepburn

The beautiful Audrey Hepburn if i could photography

one woman it would be her

I love how this shot is framed the way her body is

positioned with her resting on the cane

This shot and one below was shot for my fair lady

Audrey Hepburn

I love the colours and tones of this photo

Audrey Hepburn

This side view of  Audrey Hepburn is a great shot

showing the shapes in her hair its beautiful lite shot

Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

A simple idea of having Audrey be hide a curtain

make this a lovely image with many lines

Having her hands help frame the face nicely

Marilyn Monroe

He also took some amazing photos of marilyn monroe

Another woman I would dream to shoot

Shot by climbing onto the bed and shooting face down onto Marilyn

a beautiful photo i like how he done a straight down shot of her lying in a bed 

This was of marilyns favourite photos 

she would often said this signed to her fans 

Marilyn Monroe

Cecil talking about hes shoots with Marilyn  Monroe

I like how he shot her from above looking straight down for the bed shots above

                          

Elizerbeth Taylor

I did not realize how beautiful Elizerbeth Taylor was untill i saw this photo

Her face is in perfect focus helped by having a great depth of field

 

Julie Andrews

I love how a mirror is used in this photo

I love how hes captured this shot

you can see the light from the key hole

on her face , great shadows shapes and lines

A great photo

Greta Garbo

Grata Garbo lying down he captures the beauty of her face and hair

Gwilli Andre

Shot with a black background wih roses hanging above her

Vivien Leigh

Using plants and the angle of her
 neck make a great composition

I love this shot showing a amazing shadow on the wall

The shadows and tonal range on her dress are lovely

I composition of this shot make it a stunning photo

BOOKS

I have a book on beatons protraits

It has over 150 great portaits by beaton

EXHIBITION'S

Cecil Beaton 14 January 1904 - 18 January 1980

Beaton was one of the world's most successful fashion and portrait photographers of all time

I have enjoyed learning about him and discovering hes great images