John Swannell (born 27 December 1946) is a British photographer.

Career

Swannell was born in London in 1946. After leaving school at the age of 16, Swannell worked first as an assistant at ''

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'' Studios and then assisted David Bailey for four years before setting up his own studio. He spent the next ten years travelling and working for magazines such as ''Vogue'', '' Harpers & Queen'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' and ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

''. During this time he developed his very distinctive, individual style in both fashion and beauty photography. Swannell provided the photograph for the cover of the 1973 album ''

The Man in the Bowler Hat ''The Man In The Bowler Hat'' is the third album by the British rock group Stackridge. The album was produced by George Martin at AIR Studios, London and released in the UK by MCA Records. This was their highest charting album, peaking at numbe ...

'' and the 1976 '' Mr. Mick'' album by British rock group Stackridge, and has many other record cover photograph credits to his name. He is known for his

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

portrait photographs. Other portrait commissions have included the 2004 Christmas card for

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and

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; Richard Attenborough,

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, Elkie Brooks,

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...

Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

, Bob Hoskins,

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...

, Tom Jones, Ken Livingstone,

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

. In 2019, Clarendon Fine Art hosted a major retrospective of his work.

Royal photographer

During his career Swannell has photographed all the leading members of the British royal family, apart from Princess Margaret. In November 1994, Diana, Princess of Wales personally commissioned Swannell to photograph her together with her sons. In February 2012, Swannell was commissioned to take the official photographs of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to mark the

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...

of her accession to the throne.

Awards

In 1993, Swannell was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society; he was one of the youngest members to have achieved this status at the time.

Charity work

On 7 June 2011, Swannell gave an illustrated talk, "My world in pictures", at the Royal Geographical Society in aid of the

National Autistic Society The National Autistic Society is the leading charity for autistic people and their families in the UK. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, serv ...

Personal life

Swannell's mother, Lilly McCann, came from just outside

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

, Northern Ireland. He has a large family connection still there in the McCann family. Swannell is married to Marianne Lah and they have two children, daughter Sophia (b. 1983) and son Charlie (b. 1989). He also has two daughters, Alice and Jane, from his previous marriage.

References

External links

Source: Biography from johnswannell.com, extract reproduced with permission.
Official John Swannell website

John Swannell's work at the National Portrait Gallery
1946 births Living people Photographers from London {{England-artist-stub