Clive Barda

By 2012, Barda had already produced more than a million photographs, and has been referred to as the doyen of British music photography.

During the following decades, Barda has portrayed the world's leading classical musicians, as well as performers in opera, dance, theatre and musicals, as a freelance photographer. In her review of Barda's book Performance! (2000) for The Guardian, Charlotte Higgins stated:

In 1990, Barda founded the Performing Arts Library (PAL), to showcase his own collection and the work of other photographers specializing in the arts. This project evolved into ArenaPAL in 1997.

In 1970, Barda married Rosalind Mary Whiteley; they have three sons.

Barda decided to combine his interests in photography and classical music, and a chance encounter with a journalist for South Wales Magazine led to his first commission: photographing the harpist Susan Drake at home, on 12 November 1968. At the time, Drake's husband, John Wilbraham, was recording the Haydn and Hummel trumpet concertos and the producer asked Barda to shoot the album's sleeve. Drake then showed Barda's work to her agent, who recommended him to other artists, thus opening up opportunities for further engagements. Within a few months, Barda had his big break:

Clive Blackmore Barda OBE, FRSA (born 14 January 1945) is a London-based, British freelance photographer best known for capturing the performances of classical musicians and artists of the stage (opera, ballet and theatre). During his career spanning over five decades, Barda has created a collection of over a million photographs of performers, composers, and conductors.

Barda was born in 1945 and spent his early childhood in Alexandria, Egypt, where his father was a lawyer and his mother a painter. The family returned to England in 1956. Barda attended Bryanston School and graduated from Birkbeck College, University of London (BA Hons Modern Langs), aspiring to apply his knowledge of modern languages as a commodities broker in the City. His early interest in photography was mostly documentary; while studying for his degree, he travelled to Romania to photograph the painted monasteries of Moldavia. When he was twenty, following a friend's suggestion, he attended his first concert of classical music: an evening of Viennese music conducted by John Barbirolli. Soon after, he started attending concerts several times per week, and listening regularly to BBC Radio 3.