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Hollywood celebrity photographer plans to return to Russia soon

Douglas Kirkland's exhibition in Moscow will last till April 15

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASSS/. One of the most renowned Hollywood celebrity photographers Douglas Kirkland, whose exhibition opens at Moscow’s Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography on Wednesday, plans to return to Russia, as he himself said in a written interview with TASS.

"Every one of my experiences in Russia has been an exciting adventure and I hope to come back again soon," he said.

The photographer pointed out that in 2006, he "had the great honor of photographing Prima Ballerina Svetlana Zakharova in Moscow as Giselle." "My wife Francoise and I also saw her perform Carmen at the Bolshoi. What a thrill," he added. "I have also photographed Mikhail Baryshnikov and the beautiful Art Historian Elena Bespalova. I have spent time in Russia and did a story on the TransSiberian Railroad for the American GEO Magazine in 1982 and I worked on the book A Day in the Life of the Soviet Union in Novosibirsk in 1987," Kirkland noted.

On exhibition

Kirkland’s exhibition will last till April 15. Visitors will have a chance to see the pictures he took during his 60-year career. The items particularly include a series of Marilyn Monroe’s photographs made in 1961 and pictures of Coco Chanel, whom Kirkland photographed for Look magazine in 1962.

"Because this exhibition is being held at the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography which is very prestigious institution, we decided to let the curators decide what would be of most interest to the Russian public. We are very impressed by the work they have done and by their dedication and attention to every little detail," the photographer said.

Photo session as dance

Kirkland’s photos are preserved in many museums around the world, including the British and Australian National Portrait Galleries and the Smithsonian Institution museums in the United States. He has photographed celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Marlene Dietrich, Peter O’Toole, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Robert de Niro, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Kirkland said that "a photo session is a dance, between you and your subject." "You sometimes take the lead and then you let them lead you. There is a lot of communication, not necessarily words but subtle feelings between you both. It is a platonic love affair," he noted.

When speaking about the beauty of backstage footage, he said that "when one is able to capture moments that are not posed and deliberate, framed just perfectly it is a revelation. The beauty is in spontaneity of the moment that provides a certain truth about the action going on and the story you are attempting to tell."

Favorite picture to be taken

In response to a question about his favorite picture, Kirkland said that it "is the one I am about to take." "That said, of course Marilyn Monroe is the person the world is most curious about but I am in love with all my subjects, male or female," he noted. "I have been lucky to get along with most of my subjects," the photographer added.