Baron

Who was Baron?

Stirling Henry Nahum, 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. 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.