Venus in Hollywood ― Portraits from the Golden Age of Glamour

In photographs only seen briefly as part of studio press kits distributed upon release of a new film, many of these long-lost stills of Hollywood’s leading ladies have been reverently rendered into color portraits that not only evoke a treasured past of beauty and glamour, but also seem comfortably familiar to the contemporary eye. These posed photos have been chosen not only for their bespoke sensuality, but also for how the discrete addition of color to older portraits has elevated a former black and white still to a kind of artistic grace, prompting rediscovery of classic Hollywood’s most beautiful women. Actresses portrayed here include Julie Andrews, Anna Mae Wong, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Carole Lombard, Carroll Baker, Joan Crawford, Angie Dickinson, Eva Marie Saint Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo and many others.

The Hollywood Photo Archive is not only a wonderful collection of cinematic history, it captures the collective memories of Hollywood. The gunmen, the gallants, the ghosts and the stars of the big screen are represented in an impressive archive of more than 180,000 pieces.
The collection has been assembled over forty years by Director Colin Slater. In Slater’s early days, as he began to learn his craft, it was the great Directors, Wilder, Lean and Welles, who advised him to study and learn from the film stills. Slater went on to own an important public relations agency, The Adventurers, in association with the legendary Journalist and Film Executive, Fred Hift. Together with 500 stringers the company worked on almost every motion picture produced and released in the UK, gathering stills from the stars and press collateral from the studios. Added with Hift’s lifetime of files the Hollywood Archive was born.
The outstanding archive provides a treasure trove of prints for film buffs; delve in and discover wonderful film stills, celebrity portraits and heroic stage performances.