|
|
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton was a famous English stage and costume designer, photographer, writer and painter who was born in Hamstead, London on January 14, 1904. His fascination with the music hall star, Lily Elsie, started his interest in fashion plates and costume and stage designs. This was considered unmasculine when he was growing up, but he continued with his interests which were the start of his photographic style. He was obsessed with the image of fashionable, beautiful women and photographic portraiture. His downfall was that he despised his photography, because he felt it came too easily to him.
He photographed for famous magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair and was later commissioned by the Ministry of Information to take official photographs during the World War II. Some of his credits for costume and stage designs include My Fair Lady (1956) and Coco (1969). His later works were much more conventional, especially after he became the official photographer for the British Royal family. Beaton's work was very unique because he broke away from the normal unimaginative style of the day and relied on unusual settings, poses, and backgrounds.
|
