Beauty – in pictures

The Festival de Cannes has organised an exhibition dedicated to the Pin-ups of the 7th Art – “Certaines l’aiment show (Pin-ups, Some Like it Show)” – in the foyers of the Grand Théâtre Lumière and the Salle Debussy. Welcome to a rendez-vous where glamour and photography go hand in hand.

These limpid photographs come from a time when movies were still made in black and white – a simpler time when stars posed playfully for the cameras on the beach without a second thought..

The Pin-ups of the 7th Art are in the spotlight at this 64th Festival de Cannes, which has organised an exhibition of fifty-five pictures by celebrated photographers from Clarence Sinclair Bull to John Engstead. These strikingly modern black and white and colour prints of stars and sarlets are all part of the renowned Kobal Collection, with scenography by Studio P&F Baume.

Study them in swimsuits in the lobby of the Salle Debussy or construe their captivating curves beneath their fine satin dresses in the hall of the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Brigitte Bardot poses on the Carlton beach in 1952. Here are Cary Grant and Grace Kelly side-by-side in 1954. “It was a period when the cinema was still innocent. Stars flirted cheerfully with the photographer’s lens“, says Dave Kent, Director of The Kobal Collection.

The term “pin-up” of course comes from the English verb “to pin up” a picture or a photo and refers especially to the photos of glamour girls that American GIs pinned to the walls of their dormitories and lockers during World War II. The exhibition can be enjoyed until Sunday.

B.P.