Written by Iris te Wieske

‘’I did Architecture at Cambridge, but then I failed my exams. I draw badly. It is much easier to be a photographer, so I changed. I was always bad at fashion because I didn’t like it.’’ Did anyone ever mind being asked to wearing one of your blue shirts? ‘’They had no choice.’’

– Lord Snowdon

On May 3. Acne released its latest collaboration with intriguing photographer and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Snowdon. Over the years Snowdon has portrayed some of the most outstanding figures of our time, from actors, artists and top fashion designers to writers, political leader, pop stars and royalty.

Recently sixty of his portraits were presented in a book called Snowdon Blue. The book is an ode to the blue shirt, which is according to Snowdon “anonymous and yet kind of uniform. It is like a simple backdrop that leaves us to focus on the sitter’s face without being distracted.” It is the first book published by the Swedish fashion company Acne Studios, and showcases the use of the colour blue in his portraits. But there is more. Alongside the book, Acne Studios has designed a collection of eight blue shirts, inspired by those worn by the people in Snowdon’s portraits.

We were curious about the story behind this remarkable man, so we did some research.

Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones (later known as Snowdon), started his career at Eton and Cambridge at which he was studying architecture. He failed his exams, and was asked to go down from Cambridge. According to Snowdon, who at the age of 82 still doesn’t know what he wants to do, he has always been photographing. He was married to Princess Margaret – the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II -, and firstly became known for his royalty portraits.

But he actually photographs in widely diverse areas such as theatre, fashion, and design. He objects to being called a society or royal photographer, ‘’I’m just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill photographer doing reportage,’’ he explains. In the early 1960’s he became the artistic adviser of the Sunday Times magazine, and by the 1970’s he already gained a reputation as one of Britain’s most prominent photographers. Throughout his career, influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson and classical portraitist Irving Penn, Snowdon photographed almost anyone of any importance.

Jonny Johansson, creative director at Acne, began working with Snowdon in 2007 when he shot some photographs for the Acne paper. But it was Snowdon’s youngest daughter – Frances von Hofmannsthal- who approached Johansson to work on his current project.”I have always admired his work, so when his daughter approached us with the idea it was a very easy decision to make,” Johansson says.”His work has a real honest energy to it – each portrait reveals something about the subject. Royals, playwrights, actors and pop stars alike, each has a human and intimate aspect that I admire.”

The book, that was assembled and edited by Frances von Hofmannsthal, will be retailing at $80. It will be accompanied by a touring exhibition presenting the sixty portraits in the Acne Studios stores in London, Paris and Stockholm. A limited edition of signed prints will be available on the website and in the stores.