Saturday, April 24, 2010

Peter Gowland Passes Away

It came to my attention today while browsing the web that glamour photographer Peter Gowland passed away last month. He died on March 17 due to complications resulting from a hip surgery. He was 93.

Peter Gowland came to my attention when I was in high school and I was first getting involved in photography. At that time I was seriously spending time photographing my cousins in their involvement in BMX racing. And dreaming then of how I would like to get involved in glamour & fashion photography. But back then (early 80's) there was not alot of material & information on that area of photography. And the only book that I could easily find was one of Peter Gowland's books on glamour photography. In fact at the time, it seemed about the only such book that would be stocked by the bookstores in my local area.

But then I went to college and my photography came to an end. It wasnt until I got involved in my web design work that photography came back into my life. When it did I still had my book from Peter Gowland to help me with what I needed to learn when it came time to begin photographing my model clients.

I know that Peter Gowland wrote numerous books on photography and shooting glamour. He worked for over 60 years as a photographer specializing in glamour & pin-up. And I am quite sure that many photographers like me shooting glamour can all owe some influence & thank you to Peter Gowland for his instructional guidance. But beyond that his contributions in photography also included numerous inventions in camera design. The Gowlandflex camera is a camera model that he designed in the 1950's that many photographers have used including fashion photographer icon Annie Liebvitz.

Peter Gowland's photography & his contributions to the art of photography are to be remembered & appreciated. I thank you Peter Gowland for what you contributed to the art of photography.

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