“Letting someone take your picture involves a degree of trust and confidence that I don’t have,” the late portrait photography professional 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 popular celebrities for Vogue, Elle, Paris Match, Le Figaro Madame, and other well-established publishers, and her distinct black and white photo 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 art 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 stunning picture from it.”
Depression and addiction were common in her circles. “For a long time, my camera was a defense 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 beautiful photos of famous people that she took.
#1 Helena Bonham Carter
Image source: Kate Barry
#2 Charlotte Gainsbourg
Image source: Kate Barry
#3 Helena Bonham Carter
Image source: Kate Barry
#4 Vanessa Paradis
Image source: Kate Barry
#5 Monica Bellucci
Image source: Kate Barry
#6 Monica Bellucci
Image source: Kate Barry
#7 Self-Portrait
Image source: Kate Barry
#8 Elsa Zylberstein
Image source: Kate Barry
#9 Emmanuelle Béart
Image source: Kate Barry
#10 Audrey Tautou
Image source: Kate Barry
#11 Self-Portrait
Image source: Kate Barry
#12 Laeticia Casta
Image source: Kate Barry
#13 Jane Birkin
Image source: Kate Barry
#14 Isabelle Huppert And Emmanuelle Béart
Image source: Kate Barry
#15 Catherine Deneuve
Image source: Kate Barry
#16 Monica Bellucci
Image source: Kate Barry
#17 Sofia Coppola
Image source: Kate Barry
#18 Sophie Marceau
Image source: Kate Barry
#19 Diane Kruger
Image source: Kate Barry
#20 Monica Bellucci
Image source: Kate Barry
#21 Amira Casar
Image source: Kate Barry
#22 Sophie Marceau
Image source: Kate Barry
#23 Vanessa Paradis
Image source: Kate Barry
#24 Catherine Deneuve
Image source: Kate Barry
#25 Diane Kruger
Image source: Kate Barry
#26 Vanessa Paradis
Image source: Kate Barry
#27 Valeria Golino
Image source: Kate Barry
#28 Sophie Marceau
Image source: Kate Barry
#29 Chiara Mastroiani
Image source: Kate Barry
#30 Laetitia Casta
Image source: Kate Barry
#31 Vanessa Paradis
Image source: Kate Barry
#32 Béatrice Dalle
Image source: Kate Barry
#33 Chiara Mastroianni
Image source: Kate Barry
#34 Caterina Murano
Image source: Kate Barry
#35 Jane Birkin And Lou Doillon
Image source: Kate Barry
#36 Catherine Deneuve
Image source: Kate Barry
#37 Ludivine Sagnier
Image source: Kate Barry
#38 France Gall
Image source: Kate Barry
Follow Us
