Snowdon

The Earl of Snowdon is one of the most respected and important photographers of the twenty-first century.

Born Tony Armstrong-Jones in 1930, Snowdon was educated at Eton, where he spent most of his time in the school of mechanics, making radiograms, walking sticks which doubled as crystal sets and torches, an underwater camera and not least a burglar alarm for his food cupboard. At Cambridge he read Natural Sciences for ten days before switching to architecture. He coxed the winning crew of the 1950 boat race and contributed photographs to Varsity. After failing his exams, he decided to come to London.
His father paid for a three-year apprenticeship with the photographer Baron, which Snowdon left after six months. As a contributor to Tatler, Sketch and the Daily Express, he made his name in the 1950s with his photographs of the theatre and with his book London (1958). His first exhibition, Photocall, in 1957 was a resounding success. Since then, he has become one of the most highly respected British photographers of the century. Photographing for more than four decades, he has also been an author of more than twenty-five books, and the longest standing contributor to Life, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and many other international magazines.

Apart from being a photographer, he is an architect, inventor and a filmmaker. His work has translated into some of the most powerful and recognizable portraits of today.