Partner Angus McBean
Queer Places:
Flemings Hall, Hall Rd, Bedingfield, Eye IP23 7QF, Regno Unito
David Ball (born 1926)
is a photographer; he was the partner of Angus McBean. McBean's estate was bequeathed to his partner and studio assistant, David Ball.
In 1947 Ball was in his late teens when he became McBean's assistant. They became lovers and life-long companions, and was Angus McBean's sole heir.
In the 1960s McBean bought Flemings Hall, a Tudor house in Suffolk. He officially retired as a photographer in 1974 but continued producing photographs with images of Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier being among his last work in 1988. In 1990 McBean fell ill whilst on holiday in Morocco and after returning to England died in hospital in Ipswich on 9 June, his 86th birthday. Overshadowed by photographers like Cecil Beaton and, later, David Bailey, he never enjoyed the same level of fame although it has been argued his work was better technically and artistically. Lord Snowden declared him “a genius” and Cecil Beaton called him “the best photographer in the country”.
My published books:
