“Letting someone take your picture involves a degree of trust and confidence that I don’t have,” the late photographer Kate Barry said. You may not know her name, but even though she is no longer with us, Barry is still adored in the worlds of fashion, music, and film. The British-born artist photographed for Vogue, Elle, Paris Match, Le Figaro Madame, and other well-established publishers, and her distinct style made her portraits look sexy and real.
Kate Barry grew up in a family surrounded by mystique and fame. They belonged to the bourgeois–bohème socialite crowd of Paris’s modern day aristocracy, but she – unlike those around her – placed herself behind the camera rather than in front of it. “It was something miraculous for me, the image appeared almost immediately. For a long time, I didn’t realize that photography was a profession, it was always just a game.”
The artist claimed that photography is all about capturing what others don’t see. “One of my <..> photography friends always talks about ‘making’ a photo not ‘taking’ one – more applicable to him as he uses film and a darkroom, but still – it is about taking what’s there and creating a great image from it.”
Depression and addiction were common in her circles. “For a long time, my camera was a defence against the melancholy I felt.” Unfortunately, these demons eventually got to her. Kate Barry jumped from the balcony of her Parisian apartment in 2013. Scroll down to see the world through Kate’s lens and appreciate her legacy, the portraits she took.
Sophie Marceau
Image credits: Kate Barry
Monica Bellucci
Image credits: Kate Barry
Vanessa Paradis
Image credits: Kate Barry
Amira Casar
Image credits: Kate Barry
Audrey Tautou
Image credits: Kate Barry
Béatrice Dalle
Image credits: Kate Barry
Catherine Deneuve
Image credits: Kate Barry
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Image credits: Kate Barry
Chiara Mastroiani
Image credits: Kate Barry
Diane Kruger
Image credits: Kate Barry
Elsa Zylberstein
Image credits: Kate Barry
Emmanuelle Béart
Image credits: Kate Barry
France Gall
Image credits: Kate Barry
Helena Bonham Carter
Image credits: Kate Barry
Isabelle Huppert and Emmanuelle Béart
Image credits: Kate Barry
Jane Birkin and Lou Doillon
Image credits: Kate Barry
Laetitia Casta
Image credits: Kate Barry
Monica Bellucci
Image credits: Kate Barry
Sofia Coppola
Image credits: Kate Barry
Sophie Marceau
Image credits: Kate Barry
Valeria Golino
Image credits: Kate Barry
Vanessa Paradis
Image credits: Kate Barry
Catherine Deneuve
Image credits: Kate Barry
Jane Birkin
Image credits: Kate Barry
Laeticia Casta
Image credits: Kate Barry
Caterina Murano
Image credits: Kate Barry
Vanessa Paradis
Image credits: Kate Barry
Website: LINK
