Photographic collection

The collection includes a rich variety of both professional and non-professional (informal) photographs of Burgess, his family and friends, which document Burgess's personal and professional life in the UK and beyond. It includes images of family holidays, informal gatherings and celebrations, along with professional portraits of Burgess and his appearances at, for example, book signings, lectures, premieres, and various television interviews.

Among those photographed alongside Burgess are his first wife, Lynne (née Llewela Jones); his widow, Liana (née Liliana Macellari); their son, Andrew Burgess-Wilson (also known as Paolo Andrea); members of the Monagasque Royal Family; and friends and collaborators such as, Rafael Alberti, Georges Belmont, John Boorman, Graham Greene, Pierre Joannon, Stanley Silverman, John Simon, Sheamus Smith, and Bertrand Tavernier. Subjects are photographed in a variety of settings (domestic and otherwise) in countries such as Amsterdam, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.

The majority of images date from the 1970s to the 1990s, but the collection also includes photographs of

Burgess's childhood and youth, 1917-1943

Liana, her mother, sister, and other family members and friends, 1940s-1960s

Burgess and Lynne in Malaysia (formerly Malaya), 1954-1957

Burgess and Lynne in Oxfordshire and Etchingham (East Sussex) 1950-1954, 1960-1968

Alongside Liana's informal photographs of Burgess are those taken by professional photographers, including Ulf Anderson, Jerry Bauer, Sophie Bassouls, Martine Franck, Mark Gerson, Marvin Lichtner, Helmut Newton, Anthea Sieveking, Lord Snowdon, Sally Soames, Michael Spencer-Jones, Alice Springs, Eddy van der Veen, and Denis Waugh.

The original arrangement of the photographic collection has been disrupted over time, with the exception of a series of 18 family albums, which are presumed to have been compiled by Liana Burgess and appear to have remained largely unchanged since their creation.

When cataloguing loose photographic prints, an effort has been made to identify images that were taken at the same time / place and to group them accordingly.

The collection is divided into two series, namely professional photographs of Burgess and/or members of his family taken for publicity / commercial purposes, and non-professional (informal) photographs of Burgess, his family and friends.

Open

Records described as being in a fair condition are available to researchers in consultation with the Archivist.

Most photographs within this collection are in a good condition, with the exception of 8 files that are in a fair condition.

Cataloguing of the photographic collection is not yet complete: four boxes of family photographs, presumed to have been taken by Liana Burgess are, as yet, uncatalogued, along with a large collection of 35mm slides.