Snowdon’s Portrait of J.R.R Tolkien: A Study in Roots

For collectors and admirers of photography and literature alike, few images capture the essence of an artist as profoundly as Lord Snowdon’s portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien. Shot in 1972, this evocative black-and-white photograph presents Tolkien, the creator of Middle-earth, seated against a sprawling network of exposed tree roots. The setting—a forest grove—seems uncannily suited to the man who penned The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, stories rooted in deep mythology and ancient, enchanted forests.

As a prominent British photographer in the early seventies, Snowdon was invited to photograph Tolkien by The Sunday Times Magazine. At that time, Tolkien was already an internationally celebrated author, having captured the world’s imagination with his mythopoeic novels. Snowdon, whose career often placed him in the company of influential cultural and public figures, was chosen to capture the essence of Tolkien, then in his eighties, as a feature for the magazine.

Snowdon’s composition is remarkable for its blend of simplicity and symbolism. Tolkien sits, cane in hand, looking contemplatively into the distance, surrounded by towering trees. The roots beneath him are striking—they snake out in all directions, symbolising the deep, branching narratives he crafted in his books. The image feels timeless, evoking the ancient wisdom of Middle-earth’s forests and its characters, like the ent Treebeard, who guard them.

For collectors, this portrait is not only a historic study of a literary giant but a masterwork of photographic storytelling. Snowdon’s portrait became one of the most iconic images of Tolkien, presenting him as both a man and a mythic figure.

The work has been displayed in several prominent exhibitions and is held in distinguished collections. Most notably, the portrait featured in the 2018 show, ‘Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth’ at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, which travelled to the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. The National Portrait Gallery in London also holds a large archive of Snowdon’s portraits, including this photograph of Tolkien.