The first time Audrey Hepburn met with Norman Parkinson, in 1951, the actress had just tied her first star on the Broadway boards like Gigi and the photographer already had the reputation of having raised the British Harper's Bazaar with her goal. That photo shoot, in which a nineteenth nightgown highlighted the edges of the debutante's face, was the beginning of a friendship that lasted for decades and, probably, the first flash of a brilliant career: when choosing his protagonist for Holidays in Rome , the director William Wyler came across by chance with the photos of Parkinson, being captivated by the innocent image of the actress and demanded since then as his Princess Ann. The rest is history.
The coincidence, confirmed in Parkinson's memoirs and Wyler's biography written by Jan Herman, adorns her with pompous British adjectives Terence Pepper. Chief curator for four decades of the National Portrait Gallery in London, he is now the curatorial manager of Always in style, the exhibition organized and hosted by the Barrié Foundation showing more than fifty of Parkinson's best works. "Any summary that can be made of the career of Norman (Parkinson) will go hand in hand with simplifying it, but I think we can speak without problem of the man who reinvented fashion photography in Europe and who best knew how to read and interpret the new freedom of women, " says Pepper convinced.
In the headquarters of the foundation in A Coruña, the best works of the photographer are shown in chronological order through his more than four decades of career. Born as Ronald William Parkinson, he adopted his stage name by mixing his with his partner Norman Kibblewhite, with whom he founded his first studio in the interwar period. Thus he discovered his first muse, Wenda Rogerson, whom he photographed in London of the Ollin and Churchill and then in the collapsed one who sought refuge in the frivolous pages of the cutie: "Wenda, who took the Parkinson surname, was the love of his life and that's why I think his best works are from that era. In addition, the industry standard went from black and white to color and cinema became the main influence, "explains the curator.
As a photographer of the stars, Parkinson saw his golden flower and cream go through his goal: Ava Gardner, Liz Taylor, Katharine Hepburn or Gregory Peck turned to him for their sessions, at the dawn of the fifties. With the jump to the other side of the Atlantic, Parkinson not only focused on the Californian scene, but also operated regularly from New York for Vogue magazine, a publication with which he would keep a tug of war throughout his career: "The third Once he fought with the American Vogue , having made contact with everyone who was someone, he returned to England and accepted The Queen's offer as associate editor, "says Pepper, who also explains how the portraitist lifted the publication getting access to the British Royal House: "Taking advantage of the fact that the public of the new magazine was much younger than the canonical Vogue , he came to convince the Queen Mother to pose for candida in the Palace."
Beyond the courage of a man who was always considered "more artisan than artist", his talent is due to the discovery of models that marked the era, such as Celia Hammond or Raquel Welch , and the consolidation of iconic faces of the time such as Twiggy or Nena von Schlebrügge, mother of actress Uma Thurman. In addition, as a pioneer of the figure of the graphic reporter applied to the weekly profile, Parkinson was in charge of immortalizing The Rolling Stones or some Beatles imberbes, whose meeting with the photographer recalls the one in charge of the sample: "Parkinson appeared by the President hotel from London at about six o'clock in the morning and the only one awake was Paul (McCartney) .They were still living in Liverpool and, in a way, Norman had now unthinkable access. from Abbey Road, following the entire recording process. "
After narrating with his shutter a few wars and witnessing the rise of British pop culture, through swing models or excess and taste for the print of the eighties, Parkinson dedicated himself to accept only the choicest orders and risky, traveling through the Middle East and colonial Africa where he died in search of the perfect photo. "Perhaps the only way to understand Parkinson's work is through his mark," explains Terence Pepper before embroidering the last anecdote: "Five years after his theatrical debut, an Audrey Hepburn at the zenith of his film career received a Glamor's proposal to be the subject of a report . Given the possibility that Parkinson was the one to carry out the commission, Hepburn not only willingly accepted, but also opened the doors of his Roman villa to the photographer on one of the filming breaks de Guerra y paz , the film for which she became the highest paid actress in history until that moment. "
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