Behind the Lens with Brigitte Lacombe

 

 

 

French photographer Brigitte Lacombe has made a name for herself with her utterly crisp, unfussy photographs of the world’s most remarkable celebrities.

 

We met Lacombe at the home of Susie Tompkins-Buell, activist, philanthropist, and long-time collector of photography, who opened her home for a private evening to celebrate lacombe’s new book,  Brigitte Lacombe: Anima/Persona (2009, Steidl+Dangin).

 

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“I don’t think I would be able to tell if a photograph has been taken by a woman or not without looking at the credit.”

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It is almost impossible to find a photo by Lacombe that does not offer its subject honestly and directly. It is not a photo but a mirror placed in front of us. Lacombe desire is to deliver an unvarnished image free of distractions. Little to no styling. The wardrobe a footnote to the most important part: the gaze.

 

Meryl Streep photographed by Brigitte Lacombe. From the book Anima Persona. copyright Brigitte Lacombe

In a December 2009 profile of Meryl Streep in Vanity Fair, Lacombe provided an incredible montage of images from her thirty years experience of photographing Streep, chronicling the actress’s amazing beauty through the years.

 

We sat down with her to discuss  the ever-growing power of photography in probing beneath the surface of celebrity and why those who are known as such feel instantly comfortable being photographed by her.

 

BERTRAND PELLEGRIN: What is it that drew you to photography and why do you think you are better able to express yourself with a camera than with a brush or pen or music?

 

BRIGITTE LACOMBE: I was very influenced by my father’s great love of photography, and [I] dropped out of high school to be an apprentice. It turned out, luckily, that it was a vocation!

 

 

Folk music hero Bob Dylan and below, artist Louise Bourgeois, photographed by Brigitte Lacombe. From the book Anima Persona. copyright Brigitte Lacombe

 

Would you agree that photography is as much about the person in the photograph as it is about the photographer?

 

Yes very much so.

 

Then what does your work say about you?

 

No artifices, direct, and very black and white.

 

Your work manages to pierce beneath the surface of the subject… what is it you look for when you meet someone and how do you use the camera as a tool to tell a story — what is your process?

 

I stay one on one with the person I photograph and try to create an atmosphere with no tension. I am very focused and scrutinize the sitter intensely, but with good intentions.

 

 

Barack Obama and below, Jude Law and Matt Damon photographed by Brigitte Lacombe. From the book Anima Persona. copyright Brigitte Lacombe

 

Your new book, Anima | Persona contains images from some of your most famous work. What was the process to edit these images and how is this book a companion to the one before it?

 

I worked very closely on Anima / Persona for over a year with my Associate Janet Johnson, and with Pascal Dangin who is the co-publisher with Steidl…. [I ] Reviewed my archives of the last 30 years , and narrowed down  the chosen images, again and again, until it seems that you have the ones that you cannot live without.

 

Women photographers have only somewhat recently been truly recognized for their contribution to the world of photography: Tina Modotti, Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange… is there a definitive “female sensibility” to the art of photography ?

 

I am not sure that I see such very different sensibilities within the women photographers that work today. I don’t think I would be able to tell if a photograph has been taken by a woman or not without looking at the credit.

 

What is the relationship between your camera and a celebrity — how do you use your camera to photograph a famous person?

 

Of course it is never about “the camera” but about how you approach someone. The world of cinema and movies is a world I am familiar with and [I] do not feel intimidated by [it], so I approach it with simplicity.

 

Brigitte Lacombe: Anima/Persona is published by Steidl. Order here on Amazon

 

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