Antony Armstrong-Jones, more commonly known as Lord Snowdon after he married Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, passed away peacefully on Friday at his home in London. He was 86. Snowdon was one of UK's most famous and most respected photographers for more than 50 years. He was already an established fashion photographer when he married into royalty, but after that he became somewhat designated as the official photographer of the royal family.
He photographed many royal events, such as family birthdays and other occasions, and even traveled to Canada with the Queen in 1950's to document her trip across the pond. While he is well-known for his photographs of the royal family, he also shot fashion, portraiture, and did documentary work. He photographed many celebrities such as David Bowie, Charlie Chaplin, Sophia Loren, J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as literally hundreds of other artists, actors, authors, and musicians. His pictures of the elderly and mentally ill people in London during the 1960's were critically acclaimed and they now hang in museums and national galleries in England. He has also had his fashion and advertising images published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, among literally dozens of other magazines and books during his illustrious career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YNbDfG7gSw
Snowdon has said he felt taking a picture should be very simple, and during his long career he had made fourteen photography books and seven documentaries, but he was very modest, and never felt that any of his images were really great.
"None of my photographs are great photographs - they're just pictures that hopefully record a moment to make you laugh, or smile, and sometimes cry."
He is survived by his four children.
I'm sure he rests peacefully knowing that Kate will take up the job...
he was actually a brilliant photographer - his portrait of Bruce Chatwin is a favorite of mine and some of his fashion shots were also creatively very well made -