Early Life
Born on 7 October 1913, in Norfolk, Denney attended the Ipswich School of Art before going on to study painting at the Royal College of Art.
His early career highlights included, being chosen to represent the Painting School in one of the earliest television broadcasts from Alexandra Palace, in 1937. Also, Denney is regarded as teaching one of the first classes in photography, authorised by the Board of Education.
This promising beginning was halted with the onset of World War Two, where his talents in photography were recognisably wasted. Thus, Denney was sent to Porton Down to document experiments in mustard gas, before serving predominantly as a British Intelligence Officer in Delhi.
Photographer
Denney was brought to the attention of Audrey Withers (editor of British Vogue 1940-60), when his first wife, children’s author Diana Ross, with whom he had three children, sent Withers Uncle Anty’s Album (published 1941), which featured dreamlike photographs of dolls and small household objects in sophisticated photo collages.
In 1946 Denney received his first pay cheque from Condé Nast, beginning a twenty year career with the publishers, working for British, American and Paris Vogue, House & Garden magazine and its French counterpart Maison et Jardin.
His photos were notable for their drawing and composition, elements of a traditional outlook, interpreted in new ways, with his still lifes, fashion photos and pictorial ideas arranged as carefully as a painting, reflecting his training at the Royal College of Art.
Denney had a playful approach to fashion photography, fetishizing the material objects on display through his carefully constructed compositions, presenting the models with agency and life.
Interiors
Shots of interiors and the home earnt Denney the position of Decorations Editor at Vogue, and led to the Daily Telegraph describing him as the ‘Dior of the interior decorating world’. Denney was uncompromising in his aesthetic principles, and even refused to shoot in someone’s home because the colour was not right, often spending whole days re-decorating interiors he had been commissioned to photograph.
In post-war Britain attitudes were changing, increased affluence resulted in a new demand for fashionable decorating materials, furniture and clothes. Denney’s advertising work for the affordable G-Plan, and ‘how to’ articles in a variety of publications, which did not include the use of expensive materials, perfectly complemented this new culture.
Simultaneously, Denney owned Fairfax Decorations Ltd. which catered for high end clients, designing the interiors of luxury steam yachts and private houses. Regardless of the clientele, Denney championed the use of colour, mixing objects and furniture from different eras and styles based on their aesthetic charm.