Contemporary Art & Design presents Terry O’Neill

› 204. Terry O’Neill, ”Brigitte Bardot, Deauville, 1968”. Estimate 35 000 – 40 000 SEK.

O’Neill’s camera has captured everyone from rock stars and politicians to royalty. With his personal and sensitive touch, O’Neill’s portraits are often different to how his subjects are normally portrayed. His attitude in regards to his published commissions was always: “I want my pictures to tell a story – not sell a story”.

O’Neill photographed the Rolling Stones and the Beatles as early as 1963 when they were young musicians just on the verge of a breakthrough. Later he followed both Elton John and David Bowie backstage. During the late 1970s, he began more and more to take pictures in Hollywood. He both worked and socialised in private with actors and musicians, as well as celebrities. He was, for example, a close friend of Frank Sinatra and would follow him throughout his career, both publicly and privately.

› 208. Terry O’Neill, ”Faye Dunaway, Hollywood, 1977”. Estimate 150 000 – 200 000 SEK.

O’Neill was married to the actor Faye Dunaway between 1983 and 1987. In 1977, the day after she had won an Oscar (Academy Award) for Best Actress, for the film Network, O’Neill took the famous image that in many ways has come to epitomise Hollywood life. The photo shows Dunaway seated in a decadent pose in front of the pool of The Beverly Hills Hotel. The image is part of The National Portrait Gallery’s collection, which holds as many as eighty of O’Neill’s photographs.

In 2011 Terry O’Neill was awarded The Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal and, in 2019, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his contribution to photography.

See all photographs by Terry O’Neill

See catalogue