John Deakin

by John Deakin

John Deakin (1912-1972), whose portraits are among the most significant (and amongst the most overlooked) in the history of twentieth-century photography, was a natural successor to August Sander and precursor of Diane Arbus - a true poete maudit. His clarity of vision had a merciless, often brutal directness and a psychological intensity, both fascinating and shocking in equal measure. Whether he was photographing writers, artists, fashion models, or Hollywood stars for British Vogue in the late 1940s and early 1950s (where he achieved notoriety for being fired twice) or whether portraying his artist and poet friends in London's bohemia, Soho, he made no concessions whatever to his subjects' vanity, scorning any need for admiration in his pursuit of truthful depiction. After several years of research, Robin Muir, former picture editor of British Vogue, has now brought together a comprehensive collection of Deakin's most important photographs.