Film Noir Portraits

With its singular focus on the very best portrait photography of the Film Noir era, every page of this coffee table volume is rich in brooding atmosphere. The portraits were taken by premiere studio photographers like Robert Coburn, Ernest Bachrach and A.L. Whitey. Their remarkable ability to exaggerate the play of shadow and light to dramatic effect is the reason that their work still has the same ability to arrest the viewer as it did in the 1940s. The photographs remain some of the most innovative and striking portraits in the history of cinema. Carefully curated, the photographs are taken from the collection of mptv, one of the world’s most exclusive archives of entertainment photography. The book includes many unseen images, including previously unpublished outtakes from Night of the Hunter and Sweet Smell of Success; and classic cinematic moments from films like Gilda, Double Indemnity, Lady From Shanghai and celebrated B-noirs like Gun Crazy and The Hitchhiker. Every page has been printed in Reel Art Press’s exquisite quality, which serves to emphasise the timeless power of the black and white photography.