A legendary British photo artist with innate understanding of India’s diversity

A new exhibition organized by photo collective Tasveer at Mumbai’s ICIA gallery demonstrates Norman Parkinson’s mastery over the medium in a career spanning well over seven decades.

In an accompanying essay, Elizabeth Smith mentions how several photographers had traveled to India for decades and taken topographical images but Norman Parkinson went to India with a different eye. His plan was to take Western fashion and combine it with Indian style. And it worked, the clothes blended beautifully with the surroundings. It was an ideal marriage- the dress, the coat, the outfit, contrasted, yet complemented by, the richness of the Indian architecture and landscape.

Starting in the 1950s Parkinson literally trotted the globe. From South Africa and the Caribbean to Cambodia, Parkinson’s pictures were bursting from the pages. According to critic and writer Colin Webb, his impulsive and unstructured style changed forever the static, posed approach to fashion photography, while his enchanting, idiosyncratic persona charmed his sitters and projected an alluring and glamorous public image.

When British Vogue suggested that he do a major photo shoot in India, Parkinson welcomed it. He instinctively knew that his readers wanted to see not only the fashion but also the country. His trip to India was an incredible experience for him and for the readers of Vogue. In the 1950s, flights were still expensive and infrequent, so for many people their window to the world was through magazines and newspapers.

In November 1956 when British Vogue hit the newsstands, the fashion world was stunned by Parkinson’s contemporary and fresh look at India. Parkinson had traveled throughout India from the south of Mahabalipuram to Kashmir, and he captured the mood, the ambience and above all the color. Diana Vreeland, the then editor of Harper’s Bazaar was entranced by Parkinson’s Indian images famously proclaiming ‘How clever of you, Mr Parkinson also to know that pink is the navy blue of India.’ Parkinson’s innate understanding of India and its diversity separated him from other photographers who had traveled there. He had a classical sensibility combined with a truly modern take on the world.

The exhibition has been put together in collaboration with the Norman Parkinson Archive, London.