Beken
Our wonderful collection of sepia photographs are immensely evocative of times gone by. These images have been successful since we first launched them. The yachts shown here are our best-sellers while the seaplane images were only recently discovered in the Beken of Cowes archive and are the gems from a collection that Beken of Cowes believes to be the finest photographs ever taken of the world's first seaplanes. These photographs evoke images of Indiana Jones adventures and the romance of the film 'The English Patient'.
Since 1888, the cameras of the Beken of Cowes' family have captured the beauty and splendour of sail; from the magnificent cutters, schooners and J class yachts of the 20's and 30's, to today's ocean going thoroughbreds. Working from the original glass plate negative, each image has been printed and hand finished in sepia tones.
The founder of the archive, Frank Beken, took up photography at an early age and was soon afloat in a 14 foot dinghy photographing the vessels that sailed up and down the Solent. Subsequent generations have kept up this tradition. The family earned a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria and now Beken of Cowes holds a Royal Warrant as marine photographer to the Duke of Edinburgh.
Sets by Beken
