In the hall, the huge white marble staircase dressed in a red carpet sets the tone for the visitor who pushes the front door.
Holding more of a chic palace than a photo studio, Harcourt maintains his legend.
In the heart of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, in this completely restored 19th century mansion, everything seems frozen in beauty.
Like the iconic portraits suspended from the monumental chandelier cascading through the floors, thanks to openings carved into the floor of this mythical house.
Welcome to the last major photography studio still in operation.
Created in 1934 by a young photographer, Cosette Harcourt, and two press bosses, the brothers Jean and Jacques Lacroix, the Harcourt studio quickly made a name for itself in the intellectual and political world.
The place is run.
Jean Cocteau, Tristan Bernard, Paul Claudel, Mistinguett, Joséphine Baker, Jean Gabin… All come to have their portraits taken.
The idea is not new but effective.
A precursor, Nadar, in the previous century, had photographed his illustrious contemporaries, such as Sarah Bernhardt, Charles Baudelaire or Victor Hugo.
But while Harcourt isn't the only studio operating in the 1930s, it's the one that will stay.
The studio, created by photographer Cosette Harcourt (front, center), as well as by the Lacroix brothers (seated), press bosses, was created in 1934./Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l'Architecture and Heritage, RMN-GP diffusion
The personality of Cosette Harcourt has a lot to do with it.
Young German Jew born Geneviève Hirschfeld, in Paris, in 1900, having taken British nationality after the First World War, Cosette knows how to cultivate her image and a touch of mystery.
A free and modern young woman, she smokes a lot, likes speed, rides a horse and above all turns out to be an excellent businesswoman.
Flanked by her red-haired cocker spaniel, she herself welcomes clients to her salon-like photo studio.
Its success, at its peak in the 1950s, rests on three pillars, which have remained the same since: personalities invited at the head of the gondola for the image, individuals canvassed to run the business, and an emblematic signature with the logo. of a capital H, as famous as Z of Zorro.
Inspired by the lighting of movie sets
In the mansion located at 6 rue de Lota, the original aesthetic codes have not changed.
The Harcourt label is distinguished above all by a formidable sense of light, inspired by the lighting of movie sets and the photo of the legendary Hollywood studio, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
As if projected from the ceiling, an overhead light tinged with very marked shadows, both sharp and nebulous, which seem to sculpt the model.
The latter, often photographed three-quarters or from the front, his head slightly tilted, is sublimated in a false almost religious simplicity, like a Madonna shrouded in a halo in a fade of black and white.
The portrait also borrows from classical painting, as much by its solemn staging as by the pose and the highlighting.
Undoubtedly inspired by the famous sfumato - which means in Italian "nuanced", "vaporous" - dear to Leonardo da Vinci, the outlines of this portrait blend into a play of chiaroscuro which blurs the background to better reveal the subject.
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The photos become iconic and timeless, a mixture of glamor and chic.
The most beautiful eyes of French cinema, those of the legendary actress Michèle Morgan, wearing a fur hat, hypnotize us.
The actor Jean Marais remains forever an eternal young premier with insolent beauty.
The Franco-American dancer Leslie Caron, with an angelic sweetness, captivates us, her hands crossed resting on an armrest.
Oscar winner "The Artist" Jean Dujardin, cigarette in hand, takes on the air of Humphrey Bogart.
Model and actress Lætitia Casta reflects the incandescent beauty of a Madonna.
And the former Canal + weather miss, actress Louise Bourgoin, radiates a smile to make star Julia Roberts jealous.
Singer Edith Piaf, pictured here in 1950, will pose several times for Studio Harcourt.
On the right, this portrait of Jean Marais, in 1943, consecrates the success of the actor, who has just shot in “The Eternal Return”, by Jean Delannoy./Studio Harcourt
“The Harcourt portrait is a personality with an added je ne sais quoi.
No more extra soul, no more mystery, ”analyzes Dominique Besnehard, a great lover of the actors and actresses whom he revealed and then accompanied throughout his career.
In his Parisian apartment, the one who is also the producer of the series "Ten percent" has reserved a place of choice for his favorite photo, in his room, just above his bed.
It is that of Jean Gabin at 50, returned from the war with his gray hair and his still piercing gaze.
The former artistic agent likes the portrait of Nathalie Baye less.
“She looks like a hen of the 1960s, it is not at all her, while the portrait of Isabelle Huppert is more faithful.
There is also Juliette Gréco, with her old nose.
"
Another Harcourt photo is very dear to him, it is about the “three glorious ones”: Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux and Micheline Presle.
In 2008, Henry-Jean Servat, who devoted a documentary to them, arranged to meet them at the studio.
The three women, who started at the same age, at 15, in the 1930s, have never played together.
After so many years, they meet again with pleasure.
And without any rivalry, although they have rubbed shoulders with the same directors, and some shared the same husband.
Quite the contrary.
That day, during this historic meeting, they share their stories of love and cinema with each other, more than seventy years after their debut.
“I have this photo at home too,” he says.
The legendary actresses Micheline Presle, Danielle Darrieux and Michèle Morgan (from left to right) have never been reunited on the screen.
But, in 2008, they meet at Studio Harcourt for a photo./Studio Harcourt
It is these dreams of inaccessible stars and sublimated idols that everyone comes to look for at Studio Harcourt.
To pose for a portrait with the famous signature is to make sure you are beautiful or handsome, to play the star during a session, to make the myth accessible to common people.
Families return regularly for the 18th birthday of each grandchild.
Others every ten years with new siblings.
Some join together to offer a session for a birthday or a retirement.
Others still save to realize their dream, at 1995 euros the prestige portrait.
In a much more accessible version, Harcourt cabins - specially made and scattered throughout France, some cinemas or shopping centers - offer a foretaste of glamor for 10 euros per portrait.
The end of mortuary photos
There are more unusual requests.
In the 2000s, a man was photographed on his deathbed, alongside his stuffed dog.
His identity remains secret.
At Harcourt, discretion is a serious matter.
This will be the last mortuary photo taken by the studio.
Surprising today, it dates back to a great tradition of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, which lasted until the 1950s. The craftsmen of the house commonly went to photograph the dead.
An image that stopped time and enabled the grieving process at a time when people could not move so easily for funerals.
Another great tradition is animals.
The animal portrait has always had a special place.
Nothing is impossible, even with horses.
In 2008 the famous stuntman and horse trainer Mario Luraschi came up with two of them, who took turns posing.
Used to sets and trained for the cinema, they were very professional.
A polo horse being taken by its owner sparked more concern among the studio team, anxious that it would stand on its hind legs.
But quite pooch and narcissistic, the animal has spent its time looking at itself in the mirror and letting itself be photographed quietly.
Hedwig, the famous white owl from Harry Potter, caused much less stress!
A corridor lit by candelabras, a deceptive mirror that hides a door ...
They did not pose, but they are the masters of the place.
Simba and Guicello, two abandoned cats taken in by the studio, took their ease amid the red curtains and gilding.
On the second floor, in the exhibition room open to everyone where photos are hung by a clever system of wheels reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin's film "Modern Times", Simba shows himself for a moment, in search of a caress or of food, before spinning lower.
If the feline is not impressed by the mythical portrait of more than two meters high of Carole Bouquet, sublime at the top of the steps, facing the entrance, this is not the case of the soprano Julie Fuchs.
“Intimidating but inspiring!
She says.
The lyric singer, one of the leading figures of the young generation, has an appointment for a new session, eight years after having posed for the first time.
A young mother for two years, she no longer recognizes herself in her portrait and is looking for something softer.
Natasha, the photographer, explains to the lyric singer Julie Fuchs what she wants to “capture” ./LP/Arnaud Dumontier
To access the Grail, you have to cross a small dark corridor, lit by candelabras held by the arms of men, a nod to "Beauty and the Beast", the tale adapted for cinema by Jean Cocteau.
At the end of the corridor, a deceptive mirror hides a door that opens onto a room.
Change of scenery.
All in red and gold, the room, called “Salon Cocteau”, recalls a boudoir or a theater box.
This is where Julie Fuchs has her make-up on a discreet jazz background, installed on the same wrought iron armchair as that of Catherine Deneuve in Peau d'âne.
“It's more than just a shoot, it's a real moment.
We come to Harcourt for a certain type of photo, which also represents the nostalgia of an era.
July, the makeup artist, insists on the look and tracks down the slightest shine.
The powerful light - here, we do not use flash -, ruthless, does not allow any.
Half an hour later, the model is ready to be strafed in the adjoining room, under the gaze of Jean Reno, whose masterful portrait stands on the gray wall, facing the spotlights that form a circle.
Natasha, a young English freelance photographer, has worked for Harcourt for four years.
She likes this know-how which reminds her of movie sets.
Her work plays a lot on the light, the spots that she adjusts according to the desired effect and that she can follow directly on the screen of her camera, since the studio abandoned film in favor of digital, he over ten years ago.
Assisted by Alexis, a young man who is finishing her training, Natasha begins by giving Julie Fuchs confidence.
"Think of something else, you are not here, you are at the sea. Now you close your lips tightly, you are thinking of your son.
“Between two takes and changes of outfit, July, the makeup artist, takes care of the touch-ups.
Close your eyes, tilt your face, look up… The two hours of the session go by quickly.
They end in a fun way.
"One, two, three, sun, you turn around!"
To capture the subject in its immediacy.
The portrait produced for Julie Fuchs borrows as much from religious codes as from classical painting./Studio Harcourt
A month later, Julie Fuchs is received in the darkroom for the presentation of a contact sheet with a selection of her photos.
Once the portrait is chosen, the image is worked on, retouched, until it is ready and finally delivered.
Going through this studio is to establish your social status
Every personality that matters - whether artistic, political, sporting, intellectual… -, in addition to a majority of anonymous, has gone to Harcourt.
Under the Occupation, the Germans follow.
All the officers of the neighboring "military high command" march past, without suspecting for a moment that they are greeted at the entrance by a Jew and are photographed in walls rented to a Jewish landlord, and moreover directed by a Jewish woman. !
At the Liberation, the American GIs replaced them in front of the objective.
When, in 1986, the State bought the Harcourt collection, or 6 to 10 million negatives taken between 1934 and 1989, it recovered much more than a photo album.
He came into possession of a whole section of 20th century photography.
Matthieu Rivallin, from the Mediatheque of Architecture and Heritage, which administers this treasure, testifies.
“This fund has a sociological and historical interest.
It is too often reduced to portraits of actors or singers.
We thus found the portrait of one of the first women of the Constituent Assembly in 1945. There is a whole repertoire of people of whom we sometimes had few images.
These are the only photos.
They allow you to put a face on a name.
The visit to Harcourt was a social marker.
"
During the Occupation, the soldiers did not hesitate to strike a pose, like this German officer (left), photographed in 1940.
The writer and sociologist Roland Barthes was one of the best promoters of the studio, when he wrote in his "Mythologies" that in France, "one is not an actor if one has not been photographed by the Studios. from Harcourt ”.
It was in 1957, but what is it today?
Timeless or a bit old-fashioned, Harcourt?
Times change, but the studio remains faithful to the same photo and the same technique behind which the anonymous photographer stands behind.
Whereas today, personalities seek more personal collaborations with artists who have a name and another look.
With the emergence of fine art photography and the proliferation of portrait exhibitions around the world, celebrities have also seized on this possibility of being a work of art in a museum or a festival.
The actress Isabelle Huppert is a good illustration of this.
She has posed for the most prestigious international photographers.
From these meetings were born a book of portraits and an exhibition, presented in New York, Paris, Rome or Tokyo.
The actors keep the myth alive
For Harcourt, the challenge is to continue to inspire dreams while being part of the present, between heritage and modernity, without changing the fundamentals.
"If the myth is not maintained, like any myth, it becomes shabby", answers Catherine Renard, general manager of the studio since 2007 and guardian of the temple of photogeny.
In this spirit, collaborations were initiated with other artists, including a surprising one with Bertrand Lavier.
The visual artist, who likes to be inspired by popular culture or divert it, went to the Grévin museum to photograph the wax statues in the manner of Harcourt, sowing the confusion between the true and the false, the beauty and the reproduction. .
The one representing Arnold Schwarzenegger is particularly disturbing, and disturbing!
A dozen street art artists, such as New Yorker BK Foxx or Joachim Romain and his torn posters, were also invited to reinterpret the portraits, two years ago, along the Canal de l'Ourcq, the basin from la Villette, in Paris, to the town of Bondy, in Seine-Saint-Denis.
For Ana Girardot (on the left), as for many French actors, a session at Harcourt remains an essential step.
Actor Jean Dujardin posed in 2009, when he took over the role of OSS 117 in “Rio no longer responds”. / Studio Harcourt
Undoubtedly one of the largest portrait workshops of the twentieth century, Harcourt is the guarantor of a tradition that no longer exists in France, the last representative of the history of a photo that is magnified.
If the All-Paris does not rush there as before, the studio retains its aura.
When she walks past her photo taken twenty-five years ago - on which her mystery and sensuality still dazzle - Carole Bouquet, loose, nostalgic and amused: “Ah, I would like to be like that!
"
The new generation followed.
The astronaut Thomas Pesquet, back from his stay in space, the actors Leïla Bekhti, Pierre Niney, Ana Girardot or Alice Isaaz maintain the myth in their turn.
It is indeed the stars who speak about it best, like the actress Anne Parillaud, who wrote in marker, on one of the walls of the studio these pretty words: “Harcourt is a dream of beauty.
Don't let go, they tend to fly away too much.
"