North West celebrities in the frame at The Lowry
The Half: Photographs of Actors by Simon Annand
The Lowry, Salford Quays
Sat 19 September 2009 – Sun 3 January 2010
Bolton-born Maxine Peake and Salfordonian Christopher Eccleston are just two of the actors featured in Simon Annand’s exhibition at The Lowry until Sun 3 January 2010.
The portraits have all been taken during the 30 minutes before curtain up, known as ‘the half’. The half is one of the most private times for an actor, a time for intense concentration to prepare for the performance ahead. It is a moment rarely captured on film.
Annand photographed Eccleston and Peake in 2000 when they both appeared in August Strindberg's 1888 play Miss Julie at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Annand explained:
"It was wonderful to see how Christopher Eccleston got the energy going for the character, just before he left the room to go on stage. The cigar he was photographed with was very much part of this and also the portrait of Strindberg on the wall. At this time Maxine Peake was well regarded and liked by everyone in the business but not a household name. I was determined to make sure she was included”.
This exhibition allows a rare glimpse into the more private moments of the country’s most celebrated actors including Vanessa Redgrave, Gillian Anderson, Jim Broadbent, Martin Sheen, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Kristin Scott Thomas, Holly Hunter, Daniel Craig and Jude Law, in the intimacy of their dressing rooms.
Annand’s images document the many ways in which actors transform themselves into the fictional characters about to be played. They provide a glimpse into the backstage world of theatre and reveal a part of the acting process which the audience never sees.
The portraits capture 25 years of theatre history. On display are photographs that record actors at the height of their powers, such as Eric Porter readying himself for King Lear in 1987; as well as young portraits of Anthony Hopkins, Colin Firth and Daniel Day Lewis in the 1980s, before they became household names.
The 2008 cast of Hairspray waiting in the wings is shown alongside Daniel Radcliffe during his West End debut in Equus (2007) and Michael Gambon alone in his dressing room as he prepares to play Deeley in Pinter’s Old Times (1985).
For 25 years Simon Annand has worked as a photographer in and around the theatre with many of the leading companies, including the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Court, Comédie Française, Odeon Theatre Paris, Moscow Arts Theatre, Théâtre de Complicité and The Old Vic.
The exhibition, curated by Kate Bailey of the V&A’s Theatre Collections in collaboration with Simon Annand, is the most comprehensive survey of the photographer’s work to date.
Posted on Thursday, 17 December 2009 under Press Galleries Press