Stirling Henry Nahum (1906 – 5 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 Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

ballet company. After the war he concentrated on society and celebrity portraits. A friend of

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

, 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 Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

and other occasions. Prince Philip put forward his name in 1953 to take the official photographs of the

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

, but the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of ...

preferred

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theat ...

. The following year, he founded Baron Studios on

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, taking commissioned portraits by photographers including

Theodore Zichy Count Theodore Béla Rudolf Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeő ( hu, Zichi és Vásonkeői gróf Zichy Tivadar Béla Rudolf; 13 June 1908 – 30 December 1987) was a British actor, photographer, film director, producer and playboy of Hungarian descent. ...

and

Rex Coleman Rex may refer to: * Rex (title) (Latin: king, ruler, monarch), a royal title ** King of Rome (Latin: Rex Romae), chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom People * Rex (given name), for people with the given name * Rex (surname), for people with t ...

mainly of leading businessmen. One notable sitter was

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, whom he photographed in 1954, in an outdoor shoot in California. During the first year in his studio,

Antony Armstrong-Jones Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, (7 March 1930 – 13 January 2017), was a British photographer and filmmaker. He is best known for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in ''Vogue'', '' Vanity Fa ...

was one of his assistants. Two years after founding his new venture, Nahum died at the age of 50. Baron Studios continued in business until 1974. The Studio's photograph collection was donated to the National Portrait Gallery in 1999. Nahum appears as a character in the Netflix production ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

'' in Season 1, Episode 6, played by Julius D'Silva.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron Photographers from London English people of Italian-Jewish descent 1906 births 1956 deaths