Beneath the glittering facade of cinema's stars
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E-mail China Daily, October 8, 2016
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| Gong Li photographed by Brigitte Lacombe. [Photo / China Daily] |
"I was really lucky. I was just 19 years old but I was told to cover events and do studio shoots right away," says Lacombe.
Her big break came in 1975 when she was assigned to cover the Cannes Film Festival. As women photographers were a rarity back in those times, she naturally stood out from the crowd of men. However, it was her photographic style that shone the brightest.
Following the publication of the images, her keen eye for photography was quickly recognized by influential people from the movie industry. She soon found herself in the acquaintance of Hollywood stars such as Dustin Hoffman and Donald Sutherland.
Impressed with the style and quality of her work, the two actors commissioned her to take behind-the-scenes photos during the filming process.
Lacombe shot images on the set of the 1976 film All the President's Men, a political thriller that starred Hoffman and won four Academy Awards. Lacombe remained in Los Angeles after completing that assignment and Hoffman later helped her obtain a green card for the United States so that she could advance in her career.
Lacombe would then move to New York where she lived for 35 years.
"Everybody wanted to be in New York. They wanted to accomplish something. There was a lot of competition and people there had big ambitions and worked with great focus and discipline," recalls Lacombe of the unique charm of the city in the 1970s and 80s.
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