Cannes Uncut: The Golden Years

When 22-year-old photographer Richard Blanshard arrived at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976, he had no idea that he would become an official photographer for the UK and US film industry for the next two decades. His first assignment was to photograph Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly as they promoted their movie That’s Entertainment, Part II. It was to be the first of many.

What would be unthinkable today, Blanshard had unfettered access to the stars as they worked, partied and relaxed throughout their time at Cannes. His photographs were designed to document both candid, personal moments together with glitz and glamour to create international publicity.

Featured within are many of the great and established of the ’Golden Years’ of Hollywood at a time when they mixed with the upcoming stars of the era.

Today, the only images from Cannes come from the red carpet. Through this remarkable collection, Blanshard lifts the lid on what really happened behind the scenes at the world’s most iconic film festival. In an age where actors and actresses are ever mindful of their reputations, we’ll never see another collection quite like it.

Richard Blanshard is an award-winning photographer, director and director of photography. His career began as a stills photographer on feature films and TV before he became the official photographer to the US and UK film industries at the Cannes Film Festival for over twenty years. Represented by the Sygma agency in Paris, his stills archive today is represented by Getty Images. As a filmmaker, he has made content across all genres, from factual documentaries to arts, for companies including ITV, Discovery, PBS, Channel 4, BBC2, Arte, Channel 5 and HBO.