24 January 2012Last updated at 04:28

In pictures: Norman Parkinson

An unused print shot for Life Magazine in 1963. Picture credit: Norman Parkinson Ltd/courtesy of the Norman Parkinson Archive

An exhibition of original vintage prints by the British fashion photographer Norman Parkinson is being held at the M Shed gallery in Bristol. It is the first time some of the prints, from the The Angela Williams Archive, have been displayed in public.

Angela Williams worked as Parkinson's assistant in the early 1960s before she went on to become a successful photographer in her own right. She has spent the past decade carefully cataloguing and researching the archive to preserve her former employer's legacy.

How to Kill Five Stones with One Bird, Queen 1964. Picture credit: Norman Parkinson Ltd/courtesy of the Norman Parkinson Archive

When Parkinson moved studios Williams asked if she could have his vintage silver prints. How to Kill Five Stones with One Bird (pictured) features Nicole de la Marge with Rolling Stones Bill Wyman, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones and appeared in an edition of Queen magazine in 1964.

The gallery says the exhibition, entitled An Eye for Fashion: an exhibition of British fashion photography by Norman Parkinson from 1954-1964, "captures a dynamic era of British social history". It also showcases the different clothes by the designers of the time, "through the lens of Norman Parkinson".

Norman Parkinson and model Carmen Dell'Orefice in the Bahamas in July 1959, taking part in a shoot for an edition of Vogue. Photograph: Angela Williams Archive

Many of the Parkinson prints on display are taken on location. Williams says he was the first fashion photographer to take his models out of the "stuffy confines of a studio into the real world, where he captured their natural beauty with his trademark mix of realism and wit". He very often appeared in his own pictures. In this photo he poses with model Carmen Dell'Orefice during a Vogue shoot in the Bahamas.

Parkinson's work spanned six decades of the 20th Century. He was employed as a photographer for fashion magazine Vogue during the peak of his career, from 1945 to 1960.

In 1960 he became a contributing editor of the British society publication, Queen, a job he did for four years before returning to photography as a freelancer.

A vintage print from the 1960 edition of Queen which features women modelling shoes by Saxone and Dolcis. Picture credit: Norman Parkinson Ltd/courtesy of the Norman Parkinson Archive

A programme of events, talks and workshops accompany the exhibition, which runs until 15 April.

Entertainment & Arts

In pictures: Norman Parkinson

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