Stephen Dalton (photographer)

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For the ex-Royal Air Force Chief Marshal, see Stephen Dalton.

Stephen Dalton
Dalton in 2012
Born1937 (age 86–87)[3]
Surrey[3]
NationalityBritish
SpouseLiz[4]
AwardsSilver Progress Medal, Royal Photographic Society;[1] Fritz Steiniger Prize, GDT[2]
Scientific career
FieldsNature Photography

Stephen Dalton (born 1937) is an English

wildlife photographer and author. He is known for his pioneering work, from the early 1970s onward, in high-speed nature photography. He was the first person ever to record pin sharp images of insects in flight. His work covers a wide variety of animals: from amphibians and birds to mammals and invertebrates.[4]

Life and work

Dalton was born in Surrey in 1937[3] and from a young age was an enthusiast for nature and photography.[2] His father, a Royal Air Force officer, had been a bird photographer, and he had a godfather who collected butterflies, moths, and beetles.[5] In the early 1960s[1] he took a full-time photography diploma at London's Regent Street Polytechnic, about which he later recalled, "I had some of the happiest days of my life studying something I became fascinated by".[4]

Dalton's first published article was in

entomologist L. Hugh Newman, whom he had met one day while out chasing wildlife with his camera.[1] Later, when Newman retired, Dalton bought the business, and his NHPA became the UK's premier nature photography library. Dalton sold the agency in 2006.[4]

Dalton started his work on insect photography in the early 1970s, before infrared beams or lasers, using a custom-made arrangement of lenses and mirrors, and a custom-made high-speed shutter.[5][6] Working with an electronics specialist he devised a flash tube/capacitor combination which provided the required combination of high-power flash and extremely short flash duration. After two years of experimentation he was able for the first time to obtain sharp photographs of insects in flight.[4]

Dalton's first full-colour book, Borne on the Wind (1975) included photographs that showed for the first time insects captured in free flight.[5]

Dalton continues to live with his wife in the farmhouse in Sussex where most of his work has been done.[4] His latest book, My Wood (2017) is a study of a wood he has owned since 1998.[7]

Critical reception

In 2015 the Society of German Wildlife Photographers (GDT) awarded Dalton the Fritz Steiniger Prize. The citation notes that "The results of his experiments in high-speed flash photography and his subsequent publications were landmark events in the world of photography and caused a great stir worldwide" and that "his work of fascinating intensity and striking beauty has set visual and artistic standards that are still valid today".[2]

One of Dalton's insect images was chosen to be carried on NASA's Voyager spacecraft, as part of a series of records designed to convey something of the science and culture of mankind to possible extraterrestrial beings.[2]

Bibliography

  • 1967 Ants from Close-up (with L. Hugh Newman)
  • 1968 Bees from Close-up
  • 1971 Looking at Nature
  • 1975 Borne on the Wind (The extraordinary world of insect flight)
  • 1982 Caught in Motion (
    high-speed nature photography
    )
  • 1983 Split Second
  • 1986 The Secret Life of an Oakwood
  • 1988 Secret Lives
  • 1989 At the Water's Edge
  • 1990 Vanishing Paradise with George Bernard (life in a tropical rainforest)
  • 1992 The Secret Life of Garden
  • 1999 The Miracle of Flight (the evolution and mechanism of flight)
  • 1999 Secret Worlds
  • 2008 Spiders: Ultimate Predators
  • 2017 My Wood

Awards

  • Hood Medal, Royal Photographic Society, 1971[8]
  • Progress Medal and Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society, 1977[9]
  • Fritz Steiniger Prize, Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen (Society of German Wildlife Photographers), 2015[2]

Exhibitions

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Canon Professional Network: Interviews". May 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e "GDT honours Stephen Dalton for pioneering work in the field of high-speed flash photography". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Famous Photographers – Stephen Dalton". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f David, Clark (2016). "Natural Wonder". Journal of the Royal Photographic Society. 156 (August 2016). Royal Photographic Society: 601–607.
  5. ^
    Audubon Magazine. 102 (4). August 2000. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link
    )
  6. ^ "Home-made camera captures moments of nature". The Daily Telegraph. London. 27 October 2010. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010.
  7. ^ Atherton, Nigel (9 October 2017). "Photography legend Stephen Dalton is back with his 15th book". Amateur Photographer. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Hood Medal". Royal Photographic Society. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Progress Medal". Royal Photographic Society. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  10. ^ "The Photographers' Gallery: Exhibition History, 1971 - present" (PDF). The Photographers' Gallery. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  11. ^ Lichfield, John (4 September 2009). "Wild thing: The world's best wildlife photographs". Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Dalton_(photographer)&oldid=1192443234"