Photography

Snowdon: A Life in View

A personal and complete retrospective by one of the most important twentieth-century photographers. Elegantly curated by the legendary photographer and his youngest daughter Frances von Hofmannsthal, Snowdon looks back at an exceptional life and features a selection of 175 full-color and black-and-white stylish fashion photographs and iconic portraits taken throughout his expansive and influential career. Having started photographing at a young age, Snowdon focused primarily on theater, fashion, and society photography before becoming the official Royal photographer and starting a six-decade working relationship with Vogue. In 1960, he married Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II, and in 1961 he began his illustrious career with The Sunday Times magazine. Known for his expressive and candid portraits, using both subtle humor and quiet sincerity, Snowdon’s work evokes a sense of familiarity met with extreme beauty. His successes have branched equally from the worlds of high fashion and celebrity to the British Royal family, making his audience vast and beloved. The subjects featured include Cecil Beaton, Charlie Chaplin, David Bowie, Marlene Dietrich, Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Serge Gainsbourg, Yves Saint Laurent, and Jack Nicholson, among others. Archive material includes previously unpublished polaroids, private scrapbooks, and letters.

About The Author

Antony Armstrong Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, is an English photographer and filmmaker. Graydon Carter is a Canadian-born American journalist and editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair. Patrick Kinmonth is an Anglo-Irish opera director, designer, and writer.

  • Publish Date: September 23, 2014
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Category: Photography - Individual Photographers - General
  • Publisher: Rizzoli
  • Trim Size: 10-1/8 x 13-3/8
  • Pages: 376
  • US Price: $85.00
  • CDN Price: $85.00
  • ISBN: 978-0-8478-4328-2

Reviews

Snowdon: A Life in View is a total love letter from his colleagues and children, an intimate retelling of an extraordinary life that still continues. There really are not enough superlatives to do justice to this monograph…wonderfully precise and well-written text…that renders the reader breathless. Having not really been terribly familiar with his body of work, this reviewer was awed and stunned by its breadth. It is a rare moment when a reader has no trouble realizing exactly what these people rave about. This is a coffee table book that must be read and reread time and again. Antony Armstrong Jones is and was a true renaissance man who quite possibly changed our vision regarding all aspects of photography.” –New York Journal of Books
 
“Curated by Snowdon himself, the photographs speak to a different world and a different time in that world. It is a beautiful book with fascinating text sections and interesting photographs that need to be studies for their technique.” –Apogee.com
 
“In addition to iconic portraits, and legendary fashion images, archival material in the book includes previously unpublished Polaroids, private scrapbooks, and letters.” –The Style Saloniste

“I absolutely love the work of the 1st Earl of Snowdon, so it was a real joy to take a look at his new publication…A Life in View looks back on an exceptional life through a selection of 175 iconic full-color and black-and-white fashion photographs and portraits taken throughout his expansive and influential career.” –PoliticalStyle.com

Author Bookshelf: Antony Armstrong Jones, Frances Von Hofmannsthal, Patrick Kinmonth, Graydon Carter, Tom Ford