Behind the scenes Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe, Coco Chanel in the lens of Douglas Kirkland. 60 years

The Lumiere Brothers Photography Center presents Russia’s first exhibition of the award-winning American photographer, lecturer and author of several books by Douglas Kirkland. The exhibition "Behind the Scenes" will cover the entire 60-year career of the photographer and focus on its most striking stages. The Center’s Great Hall will feature photographs revealing the backstage of Hollywood filming from the 1960s to 2010s, as well as the iconic 1961 Marilyn Monroe series. A special part of the exposition will be a 3-week photo chronicle from the life of Coco Chanel, which will be presented in the White Hall of the Center for Photography.

Peter McNichol, Meryl Streep, and Kevin Kline, “Sophie’s Choice” New York, 1982 © Douglas Kirkland / Photo Op

Douglas Kirkland was born in Toronto in 1934 and began his career as an assistant to the legendary Irving Penn, and in 1958 he became a staff photographer for the American magazine LOOK. After 3 years of work, he has the opportunity to remove the cover of the magazine with Marilyn Monroe in honor of the 25th anniversary of the publication. The evening of November 17, 1961 with the most beautiful woman of that time turned into a series of photographs, which became a cult for both the actress herself and the young Kirkland. He recalls this meeting as a “beautiful dance” in which Marilyn was the host: “Marilyn, with her incredible insight, created a light atmosphere. She simply said: “Well, I know what we need. We need a bed and white silk sheets and nothing more. But, ”she added,“ the sheets must certainly be silk. ” She did most of the work for me: she understood my idea and formulated it in the best way. I am very grateful to her for this. "

Cinema in its development, a decisive moment, spectacular details and emotions are snatched by the Kirkland camera on the sites of the most legendary films. As a backstage photographer, since the early 1960s, Douglas Kirkland has documented the filming process of more than 170 Hollywood blockbusters and independent films. Among them: “The Sound of Music” (1965), “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), “Attack of the Light Cavalry” (1968), “Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid” (1969), “New York, New York "(1977)," Sophie’s Choice "(1982)," From Africa "(1985)," The Legend of the Pianist "(1998)," Titanic "(1997)," Moulin Rouge! "(2001)," Australia ")2008), “I Am Love” (2009), “The Great Gatsby” (2013) and many others. He managed to get close to many movie stars and filmmakers and show them incredibly natural in their vulnerability and simplicity, as well as create their portraits, even when he was not directly on the set. Vittorio de Sica, Brigitte Bardot, Faye Dunaway, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Marlene Dietrich, Peter O’Toole, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Robert de Niro, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet - some of the celebrities that fell into the lens of Douglas Kirkland. “In cinema (and in photography) there is little time to tell a story, and at the same time, much needs to be told. Douglas completely surrenders to his intuition, he takes risks, he seeks. He is not interested in the beauty of the picture for the sake of beauty itself; he seeks to stop time. That’s why he is one of the greatest filmmakers in the backstage genre, capable of making a “freeze frame” of our time - fleeting and unsteady, just like the art of cinema itself ”, - Cristina Comencini (filmmaker, Italy).

A special project within the exhibition will be a series about the life and work of the 79-year-old Coco Chanel, created by Douglas Kirkland in Paris in 1962 on behalf of LOOK magazine. For 3 weeks, he relentlessly followed the most famous couturier of all time, capturing the preparations for the fashion show, her daily worries, as well as walking around Versailles. Photos create an intimate and deep portrait of Chanel. She appears before us with the whole spectrum of emotions: funny, flirty, rebellious, serious, friendly, young and energetic. Kirkland managed to capture Coco and her universe in such a way that everything in the photographs seemed to circle around her figure: from her personal items, dresses, jewelry, shoes, Dunhill lighters, to clients, tailors and seamstresses.

Douglas Kirkland’s photographs are kept in permanent collections of museums around the world: the National Portrait Gallery (London, UK), the National Portrait Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia), the Smithsonian Museum Complex (USA), George Eastman House Museum (Rochester, USA), Houston Center for Photography (Houston, USA), American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Los Angeles, USA) and others. Douglas Kirkland is an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers. Among his many awards: “The Lucie award” for outstanding achievements in the field of popular photography, “Golden Eye of Russia”, Canadian award “CAPIC Lifetime Award”, “Cinema Italian Style” award, “President’s Award” from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), “PHOTO LA” for his contribution to world photography, “Nastro D’Argento” (Silver Ribbon) at the Taormina International Festival.