•Life and Colour

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© National Portrait Gallery

Yevonde Middleton (1893-1975) was a British photographer and a pioneer in the use of color in portrait photography. Born into a prosperous family in the London neighborhood of Streatham, she was sent to study in Belgium and France, where she came into contact with the suffragist movement. In 1914, at the age of 21, she opened her own studio in London, attracting prominent figures from the world of theater and literature, as well as members of the aristocracy. Starting in the 1930s, she experimented with color photography, using the Vivex subtractive color process, which marked the beginning of an intense period of creative activity. She became particularly known for her 1935 series Goddesses, a project in which she photographed women of high society. Her innovative work earned her recognition, including the attention of the royal family. Her legacy endures, and in 2023, a retrospective exhibition of her work was held at the National Portrait Gallery.