THOROUGHLY MODERN

The life of pioneering photographer Barbara Ker Seymer Thoroughly entertaining Knights expertly evokes this hedonistic period The Times A picturesque portrayal of a world that sounds as thoroughly maniacal as it was modern Daily Telegraph I just called myself Ker Seymer Photographs Barbara said I didn t think it was necessary to have your sex displayed on the photographs Vivacious sassy out to have fun Ker Seymer was committed to independence One of a handful of outstanding British photographers of her generation Ker Seymer s work defined a talented forward looking network of artists dancers writers actors and musicians all of whom flocked to her Bond Street studio Among her sitters were Evelyn Waugh Margot Fonteyn Cyril Connolly Jean Cocteau and Vita Sackville West Barbara Ker Seymer 1905 1993 disdained lucrative society portraits in favour of unfussy modern images Her work was widely admired by her peers among them Man Ray and Jean Cocteau Her images as a gossip column photojournalist for Harper s Bazaar were the go to representations of the aristocracy and Bright Young Things at play Yet as both a studio portraitist and a photojournalist she broke with convention Equally unconventional in her personal life Ke