Dorothy Wilding (1893–1976)

In 1914, after working a series of apprenticeships and retouching positions, Dorothy Wilding saved the sum of 60 pounds to found her first photographic studio on George Street, Portman Square. She later declared 'Looking back on it now, it is amusing to think that I was only twenty - a minor! […] and I was now proprietress of my own Studio!'. Wilding sought to create attractive portraits, something she felt was entirely based on the artistry of the photographer. Posing the sitter against a plain, white background, Wilding produced portraits that were at once modern and classically sophisticated, promoting the elegance and beauty of the sitter.