David Hamilton (London, 15 April 1933) is a British-born French photographer and occasional film director most known for his images of young women.
Early Life
Hamilton grew up in London. His schooling was interrupted by World War II. As an evacuee, he spent some time in the countryside of Dorset, which inspired his work until today. After the war, Hamilton returned to London and finished school before moving to France where he has lived ever since.
Career and Current Life
His artistic skills began to emerge during a job at an architect’s office. At age 20, he went to Paris, where he worked as graphic designer for Peter Knapp of ELLE magazine. After becoming known and successful, he was hired away from ELLE by Queen magazine in London as art director. Hamilton soon realized his love for Paris, however, and after returning there became the art director of Printemps, the city’s largest department store. Hamilton began photographing commercially while still employed… read more
David Hamilton (London, 15 April 1933) is a British-born French photographer and occasional film director most known for his images of young women.
Early Life
Hamilton grew up in London. His schooling was interrupted by World War II. As an evacuee, he spent some time in the countryside of Dorset, which inspired his work until today. After the war, Hamilton returned to London and finished school before moving to France where he has lived ever since.
Career and Current Life
His artistic skills began to emerge during a job at an architect’s office. At age 20, he went to Paris, where he worked as graphic designer for Peter Knapp of ELLE magazine. After becoming known and successful, he was hired away from ELLE by Queen magazine in London as art director. Hamilton soon realized his love for Paris, however, and after returning there became the art director of Printemps, the city’s largest department store. Hamilton began photographing commercially while still employed, and the dreamy, grainy style of his images quickly brought him success.
His photographs were in demand by other magazines such as Réalités, Twen and Photo. By the end of the 1960s, Hamilton’s work had a recognizable style. His further success included many dozens of photographic books with combined sales well into the millions, five feature films, countless magazine publishings and museum and gallery exhibitions. In December 1977, Images Gallery in New York City showed his photographs, at the same time that Bilitis was released. He also maintained an apartment in New York.
His soft focus style also came back into fashion at Vogue, ELLE and other high-class fashion magazines from around 2003. Long ago, Hamilton was married to Mona Kristensen, who was a model in many of his early photobooks and made her screen debut in Bilitis. More recently, he was married to Gertrude Hamilton, who co-designed his book The Age of Innocence, but they have since divorced amicably and she lives in New York working as a painter.
Hamilton divides his time between St Tropez and Paris. Since 2005 he has been enjoying a revival in popularity. In 2006 two new books were released: David Hamilton, a collection of captioned photographs, and Erotic Tales, which contains Hamilton’s fictional short stories.
Controversy
As much of Hamilton’s work depicts early-teen girls, often nude, he has been the subject of some controversy and even child pornography allegations, similar to that which the work of Sally Mann and Jock Sturges have attracted. In the late 1990s, some people protested against bookstores that stocked Hamilton’s photography books but their efforts came to nothing. This negative attention originated mostly from North America and Britain. As The Guardian wrote, "Hamilton’s photographs have long been at the forefront of the “is it art or pornography?” debate.
Glenn Holland, spokesman for the 78-year-old photographer, who lives in St. Tropez, said: “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by this, as David is one of the most successful art photographers the world has ever known. His books have sold millions”. —Wikipedia
