DESMOND GROVES TRIBUTE
A Tribute to Desmond Groves With sadness, we report on the death of Desmond Groves, who passed away in June of this year at his home in the Lake District at the age of 95.
Each year, he’d run an annual exhibition which was held in Kendal Milne House of Fraser in Manchester, and it became a highlight of the social photography scene. In 1965, he was honoured with an exhibition at the RPS Headquarters in Princess Gate. In 1968 his business in Wilmslow closed, and he moved to a studio within Harrods in Knightbridge, where he attracted many wealthy clients from around the globe, particularly the Middle East. Although he would mostly take studio portraits, he found himself in demand and travelled the world to photograph Heads of State, Royal Families, and various high profile clients.
Desmond Groves by Alan Shawcross
D
esmond, in his time, was a leading portrait photographer in the UK; in the early years, he specialised in child portraiture and became a pioneer in capturing natural portraits using sunlight, which he mostly shot in clients homes. In 1956, he earned his BIPP Associateship, followed by his Fellowship two years later, making him one of the youngest photographers to hold a Fellowship at both the Institute and the RPS. With the main studio based in Wilmslow, he also shared a studio with the late Walter Bird FIPP FRPS in Queens Gate, London. Over the years, many of Desmond’s child portraits were used in advertisements, journals, film promotions and photography papers.
34 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2021 / Issue Three
For several years he served on the council of the BIPP and was a superb judge and critic; and would share his knowledge and insight through lecturing on photography. Alongside this, he was Chairman of the RPS Distinction Panel in portraits, weddings and theatrical and sat on the RPS Advisory Board for many years. In 1969 he was the chairman of the Europhot Portrait Group and taught at the first-ever international seminar on portrait photography in Germany, where a staggering seventeen different nationalities attended. It was so successful it continued for the following two years. After this, he would be awarded the qualification of European Master of Photography and spoke at various conferences around Europe. In 1971 he photographed HM The Queen and her family at Windsor Castle. The portraits were used amongst other items for the Silver Wedding
