Dorothy Wilding, royal photographer
I meant to post this yesterday but I was so exhausted from watching the royal funeral (all that slow marching and heavy lifting!) that I had to leave it another day. Apologies if you’re over all the coverage (entirely understandable) but I couldn’t let it pass without a small mention of this fabulous 1952 portrait of the Queen.
If it looks vaguely familiar, it’s because it’s by the same photographer as the UK stamp portrait session – British photographer Dorothy Wilding. I’m embarrassed to say I’d never heard of her until last week. Wilding was a self-taught portrait photographer with studios in Bond Street and New York and had been the Official Royal Photographer since the 1937 Coronation.
Her portraits of the young Queen were deliberately glamorous compared to the stately images of her predecessors. Post-war, it was decided that the new Queen would represent a new era of hope and possibility. I think we can agree both photographer and subject understood the assignment. It’s certainly going to be interesting to watch the next new era of royalty emerge before our eyes…
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGE: Dorothy Wilding
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