Despite his many famous portraits, the death on november 8th of British photographer Cornel Lucas at the age of 92 received little attention. In the 1950s and 60s, he welcomed into his studio some of cinema’s biggest stars, from Brigitte Bardot, Katharine Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Steven Spielberg and Claudia Cardinale to David Niven, Stewart Granger, Joan Collins, Leslie Caron, Dirk Bogarde, Cyd Charisse and Lauren Bacall. Lucas was a master of studio light, and portrait sessions for films promotions suited him well.

A retrospective of his work was held last month at the Fiorentini-Baker gallery in New York. This exhibition, the first of its kind in New York, included original and more recent prints spanning nearly five decades. Described by the Royal Academy Magazine as one of the greatest English portrait photographers of the 20th century, Lucas excelled at creating elegant film noir atmospheres. He continued taking portraits until his death, but his reputation suffered in recent years due to the public’s lack of appreciation for his meticulous and perhaps overly pictorial style. In an interview, Lucas rejected technological developments in photography: « I gave up when digital cameras came in. They have ruined celebrity prints, because photographers take up to 500 pictures at a sitting but few are any good. »

Jonas Cuénin