Studio Harcourt

Last updated

Cosette Harcourt (Germaine Hirschfeld) Cosette Harcourt.jpg
Cosette Harcourt (Germaine Hirschfeld)
Typical photograph (of actress and singer Jeanne Balibar) by Studio Harcourt, showing their distinctive "glamorous 1940s movie star"-like approach to portrait photography BALIBAR Jeanne-24x30-1998.jpg
Typical photograph (of actress and singer Jeanne Balibar) by Studio Harcourt, showing their distinctive "glamorous 1940s movie star"-like approach to portrait photography

Studio Harcourt is a photography studio founded in 1933 by Cosette Harcourt at 11, rue Christophe-Colomb in Paris. In 1934, she joined forces with the Lacroix brothers, press bosses and Robert Ricci, son of Nina Ricci to found the Harcourt studio. It is known in particular for its black-and-white photographs of movie stars and celebrities, but having one's photo taken at Harcourt a few times during one's life was once considered standard by the French upper middle class. [1] The studio is currently located at 6, rue de Lota in the 16th arrondisment of Paris.

Contents

History

Harcourt Studio Photography is the result of the association of the brothers Lacroix and Germaine Hirschfeld (1900–1976) aka Cosette Harcourt, [2] a photographer who had worked in the studio of the brothers Manuel. Initially, the company produced images for the press, at a time when prestigious photo studios like Nadar closed for lack of clients. [3]

The change in direction came when Cosette Harcourt started to specialize in black-and-white glamour photography of figures from French cinema and culture, [3] always using 24 x 30 cm prints immediately recognizable for their distinctive style and lighting. This typical Harcourt style consists of a photo taken at close distance to the subject in its best light, generally creating a halo of light and dark, on a gray-to-black background. The attitude of the subject is personal, often wearing a slight smile, but somehow always seeming a little staged. Also, the Harcourt logo is featured prominently on every print. [1]

This Harcourt style [3] was inspired by the work of French cinematographer Henri Alekan. [2] Around the time of World War II, Cosette Harcourt, who was Jewish, married one of the Lacroix brothers. [3] Together they created a magazine, called Stars, to serve as an outlet for studio photos. During the occupation of France by the Nazis, German officers and many members of the Vichy regime visited the studios, just as the Americans did after the French Liberation. [3] After the war, Harcourt regained its momentum with movie star photography, continuing the tradition that made it successful initially.

In 2000, at the initiative of Jack Lang, the French state bought the photos of Studio Harcourt from between 1934 and 1991: about 5 million negatives of 550,000 persons and 1,500 celebrities. [2]

As of 2024, having an American portrait photo taken at Harcourt costs 995 Euros. However, a close-up traditional Harcourt portrait costs 1,995 Euros due to the extra makeup and lighting work needed to properly capture the subject's essence. An alternative is using one of the official Cabine Photo Luxe photo booths that take a picture for 10 euros and process it to achieve the Harcourt look. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mistinguett</span> French actress and singer

Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois, known professionally as Mistinguett, was a French actress and singer. She was at one time the highest-paid female entertainer in the world.

<i>Les Misérables</i> 1862 novel by Victor Hugo

Les Misérables is a French epic historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television, and the stage, including a musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadar</span> French photographer and balloonist (1820–1910)

Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known by the pseudonym Nadar or Félix Nadar, was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloonist, and proponent of heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first person to take aerial photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustave Caillebotte</span> French painter

Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebotte was known for his early interest in photography as an art form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Élysée Palace</span> Official residence of the French president

The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed Governor of Île-de-France in 1719. It is located on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, near the Champs-Élysées. The name Élysée derives from the Elysian Fields, the place of the blessed dead in Greek mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jardin du Luxembourg</span> Gardens of the French Senate in Paris

The Jardin du Luxembourg, known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat, is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV, constructed the Luxembourg Palace as her new residence. The garden today is owned by the French Senate, which meets in the palace. It covers 23 hectares and is known for its lawns, tree-lined promenades, tennis courts, flowerbeds, model sailboats on its octagonal Grand Bassin, as well as picturesque Medici Fountain, built in 1620. The name Luxembourg comes from the Latin Mons Lucotitius, the name of the hill where the garden is located, and locally the garden is informally called "le Luco".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fashion photography</span> Genre of photography

Fashion photography is a genre of photography that portrays clothing and other fashion items. This sometimes includes haute couture garments. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking pictures of a dressed model in a photographic studio or an outside setting. It originated from the clothing and fashion industries, and while some fashion photography has been elevated as art, it is still primarily used commercially for clothing, perfumes and beauty products.

<i>Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette</i> Japanese anime series

Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette is a Japanese anime series produced by Nippon Animation, and the first installment in the World Masterpiece Theater series in ten years after Remi, Nobody's Girl. It is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic 1862 novel Les Misérables, and the fourth anime adaptation of said novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nude photography</span> Photography of the naked human body.

Nude photography is the creation of any photograph which contains an image of a nude or semi-nude person, or an image suggestive of nudity. Nude photography is undertaken for a variety of purposes, including educational uses, commercial applications and artistic creations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Avenaim</span> American photographer

Jerry Avenaim is an American photographer best known for his fashion and celebrity images.

Louis Athol Shmith was an Australian studio portrait and fashion photographer and photography educator in his home city of Melbourne, Australia. He contributed to the promotion of international photography within Australia as much as to the fostering of Australian photography in the world scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musée Cognacq-Jay</span> Art museum in Rue Elzévir, Paris France

The Musée Cognacq-Jay is a museum located in the Hôtel Donon in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hôtel Le Bristol Paris</span> Luxury hotel in Paris

Le Bristol Paris is a five-star hotel located at 112 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, France. It opened in 1925 and is famous for its historic architecture. The hotel is part of the Oetker Collection, Masterpiece Hotels, which is owned by the Oetker family and was founded by Rudolf August Oetker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulevard des Capucines</span> Boulevard in Paris, France

The Boulevard des Capucines is a boulevard in Paris. It is one of the 'Grands Boulevards' in Paris, a chain of boulevards built through the former course of the Wall of Charles V and the Louis XIII Wall, which were destroyed on the orders of Louis XIV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glamour photography</span> Photography genre; subjects are portrayed in glamorous poses

Glamour photography is a genre of photography in which the subjects are portrayed in erotic poses ranging from fully clothed to nude. The focus lies in the beauty of the subject's body; as such, beauty standards are often a key determinant of glamour model trends. This type of photography is also known as "cheesecake" or "pin-up" for women and "beefcake" for men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergey Lvovich Levitsky</span>

Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky, is considered one of the patriarchs of Russian photography and one of Europe's most important early photographic pioneers, inventors and innovators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photography in Luxembourg</span>

Photography in Luxembourg is often associated with two figures who were born in Luxembourg but left when very young: Edward Steichen (1879–1973) was an American who made outstanding contributions to fashion and military photography during the first half of the 20th century; while Gabriel Lippmann (1845–1921), a Frenchman, was awarded the Nobel prize in physics for his achievements in colour photography. There are however many Luxembourg nationals who are remembered for recording the development of the city of Luxembourg and the country as a whole from the 1850s to the present.

Lucien Lorelle was a French portraitist, publicist, humanist photographer, author, painter, a member of Le Groupe des XV and founder of the photography company Central Color.

Laurent Elie Badessi is a French American photographer and artist based in New York City and Paris.

Le Rectangle was a professional association of French illustration and advertising photographers created in 1937 and disbanded in 1946 to be replaced by Le Groupe des XV.

References

  1. 1 2 Götter, gut ausgeleuchtet in Die Welt on 4 April 2010
  2. 1 2 3 Harcourt, soixante-quinze ans de classicisme in Le Figaro on 10 September 2009
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Sous le glamour, le côté obscur du studio Harcourt in Le Monde on 7 November 2009
  4. Hauer, Caroline (1 October 2011). "Coup de coeur : Harcourt, la Cabine Photo de Luxe [qui n'est pas une cabine de la société Photomaton, heureux les avocats?]". Paris la Douce (in French). Retrieved 18 July 2021.

48°52′00″N2°18′32″E / 48.86667°N 2.30889°E / 48.86667; 2.30889