Norman Louis Gryspeerdt was born in Croydon in 1911. His family, of Belgian origin, had a business in Smithfield meat market in the City of London. He worked in the family business until the outbreak of war in 1939, but his interest in photography was already in place having been a member of Croydon Camera Club since 1926.

He volunteered for service in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, obtained a commission and was eventually placed in charge of the photographic section on the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Implacable. The Second World War had the most profound influence on the course of Norman Gryspeerdt's life. It provided him with the opportunity to turn the interest in photography that he had held since boyhood into an outstandingly successful career. For the first time in his life he was using photography in a working context photographing everything from deck-landings to formal portraits.

On demobilisation, and with a wealth of practical experience behind him, he decided to turn his hobby and passion into his career. His first position was with a fashion magazine, Women's Wear News, but he soon became a stills photographer with the J. Arthur Rank Organisation. Fifteen years later he moved to Universal Pictures. His subjects, both on the film set and informally, included many household names from the cinema world, such as Sophia Loren, Julie Christie, Vanessa Redgrave, Lee Marvin, Michael Caine, Marlon Brando and Gregory Peck; he also became friendly with Karsh of Ottawa, one of the great names of photography.

When Universal closed their U.K. operation in 1969 he retired to Eastbourne, but didn't completely finish working as a stills photographer until 1973. There he resumed his passion for the Bromoil Process, to which he had been introduced by John Keen F.R.P.S. at the Croydon Camera Club more than 30 years previously. Evolved in 1907, this process was particularly popular in the inter-war years, but then fell into decline. It has regained some of its past popularity in recent years, as part of the general revival of interest in alternative processes. In the photographic world, the name of Norman Gryspeerdt is especially associated with the Bromoil Process and its revival.

He was made a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 1980 and nine years later he was invited to become a member of the London Salon of Photography, generally regarded as the most prestigious honour in the photographic world; members of the Salon come from all over the world and are elected for life, membership being restricted to some thirty-five photographers.

Norman Gryspeerdt died on the 12th July, 1998. He is survived by his son and daughter.