Never-before-seen images of my personal favourite cinema siren, Brigitte Bardot, are coming to London thanks to Dadiani Fine Art and photographer Ray Bellisario. ‘Brigitte Bardot: 13 Unseen Photographs’ opens 6th June and features charming, off-the-cuff colour images of the actress taken over the course of a 1968 weekend PR trip to London.
Instead of the usual bikini-clad glamour shots in South of France, witness the French beauty virtually makeup free lounging on the bar of the pub and casually cruising through Selfridges, among other inconspicuous local haunts.
So how did Bellisario, now aged 78, manage to snag these exclusive shots of the superstar? “I’d just bought a new car,” the photographer explains. “It was a Ford Consul which I’d parked right behind us. So I grabbed her arm and I said, ‘Come with me,’ and she did! And she said, ‘Oh, this is fun, I’ve been kidnapped!”’
Well, looks like the man known as ‘London’s original paparazzo’ is also a first-rate charmer, and he’s got the photos to prove it!
– India Irving
‘Brigitte Bardot: 13 Unseen Photographs’ is on view at Dadiani Fine Art Gallery from 6 – 30th June; 30 Cork Street
London W1S 3NG; Open Monday – Friday 11AM-6PM (Saturdays until 3PM); Admission: FREE
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