12 December 2015
Harcourt, the story of a picture
Harcourt, Harcourt… Harcourt? You can’t possibly mean those mythical black and white photographs of the likes of: Marlène Dietrich, Arletty, Joséphine Baker, Piaf, Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais and Romy Schneider?
This summer I received a message inviting me to sit for Paris’ iconic Studio Harcourt. Me… photographed in their glamorous, black and white, cinematic style? I think you have the wrong number… A few days later and more than a little apprehensive, I crossed the threshold of the famous studio…
They were all present: artists, singers, musicians… I was at the epicentre of the Harcourt legend: the red and gold dressing room, the discreet (yet reassuring) make-up, the spotlights coming to life one by one…
I opened the door and a little dazzled, slipped into the heart of their unique way of lighting obscurity… I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, opened them and… click! The picture will be included in the Livre d’or of popular music’s greatest voices.
In the words of French singer, Barbara: “si la photo est bonne” (if it’s a good picture) I do hope you’ll like it…
