In 1996, I was particularly touched by a portrait of the actress Karine Silla in ELLE magazine. The photograph had been taken by Kate Barry, a name I had never heard. Thanks to Monique Kouznetzoff of Sygma , I met her shortly afterward, and it was love at first sight.
Kate’s first commission had been for the singer France Gall, who used the photo for her album Plus haut.
“Our” first assignment came from Patricia Roversi for the magazine iO Donna. Then Véronique Damagnez at Vogue Paris asked her to take portraits of celebrities from the worlds of movies, music and literature. And Yves Goube, artistic director of ELLE magazine, had her shoot several fashion spreads.
Kate was as exacting in her work as she was in life, showing great care in selecting locations, retouching the image, her choice in colors and models and clothes…
In addition to her commissionned works, Kate had her own personal projects, shooting landscapes and still lifes. Her Mauvaises Herbes series was exhibited this year in Paris and Kyoto. For her exhibition Point of View – Portraits / Natures Mortes at the Galerie Cinéma of Anne-Dominique Soussaint, she also screened the moving film Tears. After directing a film on Philippe Djian for the television station France 5, the moving images became a new direction in her work.
Kate Barry was, throughout her life and career, a serious artist and a loyal friend to all those whom she so enjoyed working with: her assistant Xavier Pruvot, her retoucher Marie Neige, her hairstylist Marion Anée and her makeup artist Brigitte Hymans, the stylists Claire Dupont and Anoushka, Marie Malterre and Luc Rasori, as well as Kasumiko Murakami, Corinne Nocella, Jérôme Antonini, Filippo Roversi, Ollivier Hersart, Arnaud Duval, Jean-Yves Brégand, Antoinette Ancelle, Catherine Ollitraut-Bernard and Guillaume Fabiani.
Renate Gallois Montbrun
http://www.galloismontbrunfabiani.fr/
