Baron (photographer)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Stirling Henry Nahum (1906 - September 1956), or Sterling Henry Nahum (sources differ), known professionally as Baron, was a society and court photographer in the United Kingdom.
He was born in England of Italian Jewish heritage. Having embarked on a career as a photographer, in his thirties he began to find prominence for his pictures of the ballet, and was often found at the Sadler's Wells ballet company. After the war he concentrated on society and celebrity portraits.
A friend of Prince Philip, he was appointed a Court Photographer to the British Royal Family, and took the official photographs for many occasions such as the wedding of Philip to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, the christenings of their children Charles and Anne and other occasions. Put forward in 1953 by Prince Philip to provide the official photographs of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, he was to be disappointed. The appointment of Cecil Beaton was preferred by the Queen Mother
The following year, he founded Baron Studios on Park Lane in London's Mayfair, taking commissioned portraits by photographers including Theodore Zichy and Rex Coleman mainly of leading businessmen. However, one notable sitter was Marilyn Monroe, whom in 1954 he went to California to photograph in an outdoor shoot. During the first year in his studio, one of his assistants was Anthony Armstrong-Jones. It was on one of Baron's many assignments to Buckingham Palace & Clarence House, that Anthony was to first meet HRH The Princess Margaret. After only two years of this new venture, however, Baron died at the age of 50, although his studio continued for a further two decades before being sold off in 1974. The Studio's photograph collection was donated to the National Portrait Gallery in 1999.
Baron is portrayed in the Netflix production "The Crown" in Season 1, Episode 6.
