The Iconic Portrait Photography of Studio Harcourt

The celebrated Parisian portrait photographers, Studio Harcourt, has been snapping shots of celebrities since the 1930s.

In today’s snap-happy world, where anyone with a smartphone is a photographer but having a unique, instantly recognisable photography style is rare, the old-school portraits by Studio Harcourt stand alone. The Paris studio, located since 2016 in an elegant 19th-century Hausmannian mansion at 6 rue de Lota in the 16th arrondissement (it was most famously housed in a hôtel particulier on l’avenue d’léna from 1938 to 1968), is renowned the world over for its soft, elegantly staged and often intense black-and-white shots of the great and the good.

Style legends

The (very) up-close and personal images of everyone from French cinema icons and sports and music stars to Hollywood legends and even political figures, reminds us that the true art of the portrait requires experience, skill and a deep understanding of nuanced light and shade. The instantly familiar imagery of Harcourt has such status that all prints must feature the studio’s equally identifiable signature logo-itself a superb branding and promotional tool that also provides copyright protection.

Studio Harcourt Paris was founded in 1934 by photographer Cosette Harcourt (born Germaine Hirschfeld), who was inspired by German expressionist cinema and the work of French cinematographer Henri Alekan (later best known for 1946’s La Belle et la Bête). Working with newspaper magnates Jacques Lacroix and his brother, Jean, plus the entrepreneur Robert Ricci (son of famous fashion designer Nina Ricci), the agency initially produced images for the press. But it quickly became a magnet for portrait photography and in 1940 alone, welcomed up to 8,000 clients.

Over the decades, the likes of Edith Piaf, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dalí and Marlene Dietrich were captured by the Harcourt lens – but by 1989, the studio had run into financial difficulties. The boss, Antoine Hours, decided to sell the old negatives to a public institution, so up stepped Culture Minister Jack Lang, who encouraged the French government to purchase the bulk of the studio’s collection. Some five million negatives are now preserved and distributed by the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie.

In the early 2000s, Studio Harcourt was given a second lease of life under new owners, with investment in modern technologies and an expansion of services to draw visitors – today there is a beauty studio, café and workshop, plus corporate photography services, art projects and collaborations with luxury brands. Times change but the ultimate secret to Harcourt’s unique aesthetic remains its use of precisely positioned, expertly controlled tungsten lighting. While images of the rich and famous define the studio’s enduring aesthetic, Harcourt’s portrait service is open to anyone… at a price. From its Professional Portraits and Wedding Portraits to advertising photos, as well as options for family and even pet portraits, there is something for all tastes. However, for the bona fide look, you should immortalise your image with a Prestige Portrait. The €1,995 price includes professional makeup and a two-hour photo shoot, an art print signed ‘Harcourt Paris’ measuring 24x30cm (the format always used by Cosette Harcourt), backed by a ‘marie-louise’ (a surround fixed to the inside edge of a frame) measuring 40x50cm, plus a low resolution digital format in a unique 500 pixel format.

Digital innovation

Speaking of digital imagery, in June 2024, Studio Harcourt made the professional-grade portrait photography experience available on smartphones when it collaborated with tech brand Honor to release the Al Portrait Engine for its Honor 200 phones. Recognising “even the most subtle nuances of lighting”, the Al Portrait Engine analysed 1,000-plus scenarios and millions of datasets from Studio Harcourt and “distilled Studio Harcourt’s craftsmanship and understanding of shadow and light expression, empowering users to capture unique, distinctive portraits on their smartphones effortlessly”. It promises to streamline the two-hour photo shoot process into nine simple steps. In truth, though, nothing will ever match the real thing. If you want to join the Harcourt cast of icons, book a shoot by visiting www.studio-harcourt.com, where you can also offer a loved one the gift of a portrait.

From France Today Magazine