The Print Room: 9 Photos that Capture the Grit and Glamour of Celebrity Culture
The hallmark of a great photograph lies in the allusion of time-travelled. Beetles+Huxley's extensive collection of contemporary-timeless photographs bursts at the seams with stories untold from some of the greatest names in photography history, from McCurry to Maire, the gallery never fails to impress. From here, The Print Room is birthed, an idea conceived by the Beetles+Huxley creative team as the answer to the question behind authentic photography: a curated, simple to use and transparent website on which to learn about and buy fine art photography.
The Print Room's inaugural online exhibition, Grit and Glamour, showcases some of the greatest portraiture and fashion photography from 1953 until 2010. It is a visual feast of famous faces from the world of cinema, rock'n'roll, theatre and fashion, spanning the last six decades of British and American popular culture. Over centuries, the icons of our praiser were a muse for pioneering photographers, who captured both their beauty and laid bare the not-so-obvious gritty realities of stardom.
GLAMOUR Mark Shaw |DIOR GOWN WITH FUR HAT, PARIS, 1954
- For ten years, Shaw captured the on-going scenes behind the grand Dior fashion house. behind-the-scenes workings at a grand fashion house. The undisputed glamour of Christian Dior was documented here, where no detail was too small, fabric too delicate or silhouette too perfect. The review of his unique images from this period immortalised the Dior Decade.
GRIT MARK SELIGER |KURT COBAIN, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, 1993
- "The portrait photographers that we tend to idolize have a great sense of design and compassion. I think the marriage of compassion and design is really what makes, in my opinion, a really wonderful moment." Mark Seliger once said of his work, in an interview with NY Mag. The image above was one of the last portraits taken of Kurt Cobain, the compassion Seliger referenced is unveils itself as Cobain’s rebellious rock star attitude turns into both a representation of grunge music and an iconic portrait of a restless soul caught off guard.
GLAMOUR
ELLIOTT ERWITT |GRACE KELLY, NEW YORK CITY, 1956
- The life of Grace Kelly was one of glamour and privilege, as one of the most widely photographed women of the 20th century, these are the two words that spring to mind beside her name. Her image was cultivated and documented extensively, from the 'girl-next-door' to subtle-sex appeal. The image captured by Erwitt of Grace Kelly at her engagement party to Prince Rainier of Monaco encapsules the icon in all she was, every type of Grace Kelly depicted, suspended in one moment.
GRIT TO GLAMOUR
ORMOND GIGLI |GIRLS IN WINDOWS, NEW YORK, 1960
- Ormond Gigli's first taste of photography came as a gift. His father, a working class civilian, borrowed money to buy him a camera which he then used as a gateway from a photographer in the navy during the Second World War, to Paris where he lived the life of a starving artist, and finaly to the exuberant world of fashion photography.
In 1960 Gigli bought a brownstone on East 58th Street. He turned the ground floor into a studio, the first floor into his family home, and set about renovating the apartments on the upper floors. He came up against resistance from Marcel Duchamp, a founding figure of the Dada and Modernist movements, who lived on the top floor. Duchamp was reluctant to leave the apartment as he thought the stairs kept him young. He moved out, however, on the arrival of Gigli's renovators. The building opposite Gigli's became the focus of his famous Girls in Windows.
GLAMOUR
ORMOND GIGLI |DONNA JORDAN WEARING NORMA KAMALI, NEWSWEEK, 1978
GRIT
- Terry O'Neill's underlying dream was to become a musician, instead he found himself photographing his icons - of which Frank Sinatra was one. His approach to photography was informal, capturing the natural aura of each character. This informal depiction saw O'Neill's work develop an edge, through a gritty politeness, quite a stand-away from the vibrant, commonplace photographs of Hollywood's elite where wealth and status were often a main focus of attraction.
GRIT
TERRY O'NEILL|AMY WINEHOUSE, LONDON, 2008
- Terry O'Neill shared a brief narrative behind this photograph an in interview with the Big Issue: "I was working on a present for Nelson Mandela, when he came here for his 90th birthday and there was a concert for him in Hyde Park. Amy was due to sing but she was in hospital. She actually got out of bed to come and perform. I only took two frames but I’m so glad I did because she was a really talented lady.” The image and its story express a gritty vulnerability that is as sincere as it is elusive to capture.
GRIT and GLAMOUR
PATRICK LICHFIELD|PAUL AND TALITHA GETTY, MARRAKECH, MOROCCO, JANUARY, 1969
GLAMOUR
BOB WILLOUGHBY|AUDREY HEPBURN, 1953
