Mark Fiennes

Mark Fiennes^[1] (11 November 1933 – 30 December 2004) was an English photographer and illustrator.

Mark Wykeham-Fiennes was born at Dalton, Northumberland, the eldest of five children of industrialist Maurice Fiennes, who was later knighted by Prime Minister Harold Wilson for his services to the export of British heavy engineering products, and of his wife Sylvia Joan (née Finlay).^[2] Mark Fiennes' cousin is Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes.^[3]

He was educated at Eton College for several years before he fell ill with glomerulonephritis. 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, where he met and married novelist Jennifer Lash in 1962 at Lothingland. Her passion for art served as an impetus for Fiennes, who took up photography at the age of 40.

Fiennes' work 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

Family

Mark and Jennifer "Jini" Fiennes (1938-1993) were the parents of actors Ralph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes, film-makers Martha Fiennes and Sophie Fiennes, composer Magnus Fiennes and Jacob ("Jake") Fiennes, a conservationist. They also had a foster son, Michael Emery, an archaeologist. Jini Fiennes died from breast cancer in 1993, aged 55.

Last years/death

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

References

1. ^ According to the England & Wales registry of births at www.findmypast.co.uk, his birth name was simply Mark Fiennes
2. ^ Biodata at The Peerage.com
3. ^ Mark's six children were born surnamed Wykeham-Fiennes, but are known simply by Fiennes.

External links

• Mark Fiennes Official Site
• Obituary for Mark Fiennes, The Independent, 4 January 2005

Persondata
Name	Fiennes, Mark
Alternative names
Short description	English photographer and illustrator
Date of birth	11 November 1933
Place of birth	Dalton, Northumberland, England, UK
Date of death	30 December 2004
Place of death	Suffolk, England, UK