Walter Benington facts for kids
Walter Benington (born 1872, died 1936) was a talented British photographer. He took pictures during the Victorian era and the early 1900s. His important work in photography has become more recognized thanks to a special study by Robert Crow.
Walter Benington's Life
Walter Benington was born in 1872. His birthplace was Stockton on Tees in County Durham, England. His parents were George and Helena Benington. In 1881, records show his father worked as a Tea Dealer.
In 1905, Benington married Kathleen Inez Whitwell. She passed away in 1953. By 1911, the couple had two children: a son named Anthony and a daughter named Barbara. At that time, Benington was working as a photographer. He lived in Southgate in north London.
Walter Benington passed away in 1936. His death was recorded in the Oxford area.
Benington's Photography Work
Walter Benington started taking photos when he was still in school. He continued this hobby into his adult life. He became skilled in a special printing method called platinotype. This method allowed for a wider range of light and dark shades in his pictures.
Benington also loved taking pictures of landscapes. One famous early photo, 'Among the Housetops', was shown in 1893. It shows the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral rising above London's buildings. This impressive photo helped him join a group of English photographers called The Linked Ring. This was an important group, and later, famous photographers like Alfred Stieglitz also joined it. A researcher named Robert Crow said Benington was "a photographer of great distinction."
Benington kept taking landscape photos. Another picture of St. Paul's, taken in 1897, appeared in a magazine in 1908. It showed a busy Fleet Street with the Cathedral brightly lit. However, by 1910, Benington became one of the best portrait photographers in the country. He took pictures of many important people, including the writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Besides portraits, Benington also contributed photos to 'The Sphere Newspaper' and other magazines. A collection of his portraits, taken between 1914 and 1926, is kept at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
From 1927, he worked as a freelance portrait photographer for a company called Elliott & Fry. He photographed famous people like John Logie Baird (who invented television), Albert Einstein (a famous scientist), and John Maynard Keynes (an important economist).
Benington's photos were shown at the London Salon Exhibition in 1928. A newspaper, The Guardian, noted how "impressive" his portraits were.
Exhibitions and Collections
In 2007, The National Portrait Gallery in London held an exhibition. It was called 'Walter Benington: Pictorial Portraits'. This show celebrated his portrait photographs. Some of these pictures were new to the gallery and were shown for the first time. The exhibition featured photos of leading artists, writers, politicians, and scientists. The National Portrait Gallery now has 66 photos taken by Benington.
Other photos by Benington are part of the Conway Library collection. This collection is at the Courtauld Institute of Art. It mainly includes architectural photographs.
