Barry Lategan – January 7, 1935-August 11, 2024
BARRY LATEGAN WAS born in 1935 in South Africa, and in the 1960s he was to become one of the country’s most renowned and influential fashion and portrait photographers, best known for his discovery of the model Twiggy.
As a touring actor in South Africa Barry came to England in 1955 to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, during which time he was called to national service with the RAF in Germany. Subsequently returning to Cape Town, in 1959 he started working with and assisting the South African photographer Ginger Odes – “He started me in professional photography with the words ‘You are a very lucky person if your work is also your hobby’.”
By now determined to make photography his career, Barry returned to London in 1961 and went on to open his own studio in 1965. While producing work for the hair stylist Leonard in Mayfair early in 1966 he was sent a 16-year-old model called Lesley Hornby, and he created the famous portrait which launched Twiggy’s career as the first supermodel.
During the 1970s Barry worked primarily in New York, shooting fashion and TV commercials for the Ridley Scott Company. His photographs have been widely published and exhibited in galleries and museums all over the world and have received numerous honours, Prestigious assignments included shooting the Pirelli Calendar in 1988 with choreographer Gillian Lynne, while he was also an early supporter of the AFAEP, the Association of Fashion, Advertising and Editorial Photographers, which is now The AOP.
