McBRIDE, Simon

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Office—Simon McBride Photography, 4 Cleveland Place West, Bath, Avon BA1 5DG, England.

CAREER: Simon McBride Photography, Bath, Avon, England, owner.

WRITINGS:

The Spirit of England, Viking Penguin (New York, NY), 1989.

(With Elizabeth Helman) Private Tuscany, Rizzoli (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Elizabeth Helman-Minchilli) Villas on the Italian Lakes: Orta, Maggiore, Como, Garda, Scriptum Editions (London, England), 2003.

(With Sally Griffiths) The English House: English Country Houses and Interiors, Rizzoli International Publications (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to numerous books and periodicals, including Architectural Digest, Country Living, and House & Garden.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Winston Graham, Poldark's Cornwall, Bodley Head (London, England), 1983.

Denys Kay-Robinson, The Landscape of Thomas Hardy, Salem House (Salem, NH), 1984.

Russell Chamberlin, The English Cathedral, Webb & Bower (Exeter, England), 1987.

Michael Justin Davis, The Landscape of William Shakespeare, Webb & Bower (Exeter, England), 1987.

Geoffrey Ashe, The Landscape of King Arthur, Holt (New York, NY), 1987.

Literary Walks of Britain, edited and with introduction by Donald Veall, Viking Penguin (New York, NY), 1989.

Russell Chamberlin, The Tower of London: An Illustrated History, Viking Penguin (New York, NY), 1989.

Carol Petelin, The Country Diary Book of Flowers: Drying, Pressing, and Pot Pourri, Holt (New York, NY), 1991.

Russell Chamberlin, The English Parish Church, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1993.

Alexandra Black, Living in Cuba, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Karen Howes, Private Ireland: Irish Living & Style Today, introduction by Marianne Faithfull, Scriptum Editioni (London, England), 1999.

Elizabeth Helman-Minchilli, Restoring a Home in Italy: Twenty-two Home Owners Realize Their Dreams, Artisan (New York, NY), 2001.

Alexandra Black, Ski Style: Alpine Interiors, Architecture & Living Style, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Alexandra Black, Tuscan Elements, Watson-Guptill Publications (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: London-based photographer and author Simon McBride has contributed to numerous books featuring notable homes and architecture. For example, in Private Ireland: Irish Living & Style Today, written by Karen Howes he provides 250 color photos of Irish homes, including those of Rolling Stones musician Ron Wood. Gayle A. Williamson, writing in Library Journal, described the color photographs as "lavish."

McBride also provided the photographs for Restoring a Home in Italy: Twenty-two Home Owners Realize Their Dreams, written by Elizabeth Helman-Minchilli. The book focuses on refurbished homes in both urban and rural Italy. Library Journal critic Alex Hartmann called the book "outstanding in terms of both production and subject matter," deeming it "a coffee-table book for the ages." Hartmann went on to declare McBride's photographs "magnificent." McBride once again collaborated with Helman-Minchilli for the book Villas on the Italian Lakes: Orta, Maggiore, Como, Garda. This work features twelve private villas along with two hundred photos of their exteriors, interiors, and the lakes that surround them. Russell T. Clement, writing in Library Journal, called the book a "sumptuous visual tour."

In Tuscan Elements, written by Alexandra Black, McBride's photographs help Black describe the residential design and interiors of homes in the Tuscany region of Italy. Booklist contributor Barbara Jacobs noted that "Black, with great assistance from photographer Simon McBride, captures the essence of northern Italy's magic." McBride returned to England for The English House: English Country Houses and Interiors, written with Sally Griffiths. The book includes a wide variety of English homes, from small cottages to huge manors, and discusses about how the owners restored and decorated the homes.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2001, Barbara Jacobs, Restoring a Home in Italy: Twenty-two Home Owners Realize Their Dreams, p. 537; June 1, 2003, Barbara Jacobs, review of Tuscan Elements, p. 1723.

Library Journal, September 15, 2000, Gayle A. Williamson, review of Private Ireland: Irish Living & Style Today, p. 73; September 1, 2001, Alex Hartmann, review of Restoring a Home in Italy, p. 223; September 15, 2003, Gayle A. Williamson, review of Tuscan Elements, p. 55; February 1, 2004, Russell T. Clement, review of Villas on the Italian Lakes: Orta, Maggiore, Como, Garda, p. 80; January 1, 2005, Gayle Williamson, review of The English House: English Country Houses and Interiors, p. 106.

Publishers Weekly, September 25, 2000, review of Private Ireland, p. 54.