Cecil Beaton has done a lot of portrait work of famous people including Queen Elizabeth. I like this photograph as it shows her as a mother and not in her formal role as Monarch. It’s a portrait that focuses on the Queen and her child, there is no obvious background to distract the viewer. I’m not sure whether Beaton will have controlled the background or just avoided distraction so the focus is on the Queen. I think he will not have had the techniques at the time the photograph was taken to crop out the background so more planning will have been needed.
Obviously it was taken a long time ago but I like the simple quality to the photograph and the fact it’s black and white. Beaton uses light effectively on his photographs in lots of different ways. In this one I think he will have used 2 studio lights to remove the shadow. Artificial light does not have to be harsh. I think it will have been gentler in this photograph.
It’s not a formal dignified portrait photograph like some of the other photographs he’s taken of the Queen but this one captures warmth and love. The natural pose seems to capture a far away look in the Queens eye. Mother and child images are popular because they show us as human.
I like the use of light on this image
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