David Hamilton (British photographer)

David Hamilton (born April 15, 1933) is a photographer from Britain.

David Hamilton grew up in London. His schooling was interrupted by World War II. As a soldier, he spent some time in the lovely countryside of Dorset, which inspired his work till today. After the war, Hamilton returned to London and finished school.

His artistic skills began to emerge during a job at an architect's office. At 20, he went to Paris, where he worked as graphic designer for Peter Knapp of ELLE Magazine. After becoming known and successful, he was hired away from Elle by Queen Magazine in London as art director. However, he realized his true love was Paris. Beauty to Hamilton had to always come first. Back in Paris, Hamilton became art director of Printemps, Paris' largest department store. Hamilton began photographing commercially while still employed. His dreamy, grainy style quickly brought him success.

His photographs were in great demand by other magazines such as Realites, Twen and Photo. By the end of the sixties, Hamilton's style was clearly and unmistakably recognizable. His further success included 16 photograph books with combined sales well over one million, five feature films, countless magazine publishings and scores of museum and gallery exhibitions. David Hamilton has become a recognizable force in photography.

DazeReader states that "Hamilton's work is controversial in North America and Britain, less so in continental Europe. In the late 1990s, christian conservatives in the US protested bookstores which stocked books by David Hamiton, Sally Mann and Jock Sturges, whose work the protestors considered 'child pornography.' Hamilton lives and works in southern France, where he says his work elicits no such social opprobrium."

Website

David Hamilton's website is Hamilton Archives.

Some frown upon the fact that since it was first created and brought onto the Internet, it has been run by webmaster Glenn Holland, who was convicted in Australia of sexually assaulting a child in 1988 (as reported by NewsOne), has since been fined for importing child pornography into Australia and in the 1990's was charged but not convicted of at least one other sex crime.

Books and films

Some of David Hamilton's photograph books are

• Dreams of a Young Girl (1971)
• Sisters (1973)
• Souvenirs (1974)
• Twenty-Five Years of an Artist (1993)
• The Age of Innocence (1995)
• A Place In The Sun (1996)

Some of David Hamilton's films are

• Bilitis (1977)
• Laura (1979)
• A Summer in St. Tropez (1981)
• Tendres Cousines (1983)