Mark Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes[a] (11 November 1933 – 30 December 2004) was an English photographer and illustrator. Fiennes was perhaps best known for his architectural studies.[2]

Mark Fiennes
Born
Mark Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes

(1933-11-11)11 November 1933
Dalton, Northumberland, England
Died30 December 2004(2004-12-30) (aged 71)
Alma materEton College
Occupation(s)Photographer, illustrator
Years active1973–1995
Spouses
(m. 1962; died 1993)
Caroline Evans
(m. 1996)
Children7, including Ralph, Martha, Magnus, Sophie, and Joseph[1]
Parent(s)Maurice Fiennes
Sylvia Finlay
RelativesHero Fiennes Tiffin (grandson)

Biography

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Mark Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born at Dalton, Northumberland, the eldest of five children of industrialist Maurice Fiennes and his wife Sylvia Joan (née Finlay). The father was later knighted for his services to the export of British heavy engineering products. [3] Mark Fiennes's third cousin is Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet.

Education

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Fiennes was educated at Eton College for several years before he fell ill with glomerulonephritis, a type of kidney disease. In hope of improving his health, his parents sent him to Australia, New Zealand and the United States, where Fiennes studied agriculture. With his health restored, he returned to England and became a farming tenant on the estate of the Earl of Stradbroke near Blythburgh, Suffolk.[2]

There he met and married novelist Jennifer Lash in 1962 at Lothingland. Her passion for art inspired Fiennes. He took up photography at the age of 40.[2]

Career

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Fiennes' photography featured some of the world's most renowned museums as well as Britain's most celebrated estates. In 1985, he received a commission from the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. to produce images for their exhibit Treasure Houses of Britain. After this, his photography recorded the restoration of Windsor Castle for the Royal Collections.[4]

He was commissioned to illustrate books for a number of British and American publishers, including HarperCollins, Random House, Thames & Hudson and Yale University Press. Between 1983 and 1995, he regularly contributed to Country Life magazine.[5]

Family

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He and Jennifer "Jini" Fiennes (1938–1993) were the parents of actors Ralph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes, filmmakers Martha Fiennes and Sophie Fiennes, composer Magnus Fiennes and conservationist Jacob ("Jake") Fiennes.[6] They also had a foster son, Michael Emery, an archaeologist.

Jini Fiennes died from breast cancer in 1993, aged 55. Their grandson Hero Fiennes Tiffin is also an actor.

Final years

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In 1996, Fiennes married Caroline Evans and lived with her in Clare, Suffolk until his death in 2004, aged 71, from undisclosed causes.[7]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ This British person has the barrelled surname Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, but is known by the surname Fiennes.

References

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  1. ^ Jessamy Culkin, The Sunday Telegraph, 19 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Somerville-Large, Peter (21 January 2005). "Obituary: Mark Fiennes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. ^ Lundy, Darryl. "Biodata". The Peerage. citing Announcements, The Times, London, U.K., 12 January 1994.
  4. ^ "The King's Bedchamber ©Mark Fiennes - Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016". Greatdays UK Incoming Group Tours. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Mark Fiennes". 8 January 2005. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Mark Fiennes". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Mark Fiennes". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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