Title
Ted Hughes and Children in Connemara, 1966Date2019
MediumModern digital print
Dimensions
Image: 42 x 59.4 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 2019
Object numberNGI.2019.179
DescriptionDescribed as an "English Cartier-Bresson" by Lord Snowdon, Jane Bown started her photographic career in 1949 when her portrait of British philosopher and Nobel laureate, Bertrand Russell appeared in The Observer. Bown is admired for her straightforward, naturally posed, black and white portraits, usually taken with available light. She has photographed some of the world’s most notable actors, writers, artists and politicians including Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon, Margaret Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II. In 1995 she was awarded a CBE for her outstanding contribution to photography. Bown is represented by 6 works in total in the NGI collection.Edward (Ted) Hughes (1930 –1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation, and one of the twentieth-century's greatest writers. He served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death. Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until her suicide in 1963 at the age of 30. Shortly after her death Bown visited Hughes to photograph him and the children he shared with Plath, Frieda and Nicolas, in Connemara. While Frieda looks very critical of her photographer, Nicolas is otherwise uninterested and almost appears bewildered. Bown would have made a made a number of portraits of Hughes on his own during this trip as well.