A royal photographer – who was once personally commissioned by Princess Diana – is set to give a talk at an Ullswater bookshop.
John Swannell will be speaking on his new book Forty Years On at Verey Books in Pooley Bridge, Ullswater’s only independent bookshop, on Wednesday 15 February.
The international photographer has worked with several members of the British royal family and celebrities including Elton John, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Caine.
In November 1994, Princess Diana personally commissioned John to photograph her together with her two sons Harry and William and the images are now regarded as classic portraits of the princess.
When he is not photographing the rich and famous, John enjoys landscape photography. He has been a regular visitor to Cumbria over the last four decades and now spends the vast majority of his time in the village of Askham.
The talk at Verey Books is open to the public and tickets cost £10 each and include a welcome drink
John said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be invited to speak at my local bookshop in the beautiful Ullswater Valley. It’s just wonderful to have such a lovely shop on our doorstep and a brilliant addition to busy Pooley Bridge.”
Born in 1946, John worked first as an assistant at Vogue Studios and then assisted David Bailey for four years before setting up his own studio. He worked for magazines including Vogue, Harpers & Queen, the Sunday Times and Tatler.
After a range of invitations to exhibit in locations such as the Royal Academy and the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh he was awarded a fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society and was one of the youngest members to have achieved the status at the time.
The National Portrait Gallery in London has over fifty of his photographs, and The V&A, The National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Royal Photographic Society now have many of John’s works in their permanent collections.
Amongst other commissions he took the photographs for the cover of Tony and Cherie Blair’s book and has done several promotional shoots for top West End theatrical productions.
