Cate Blanchett is featured in Lacombe’s book of photography. She sits on a stool, opposite a man who appears to be her director. A table lies between them, providing a sense of distance and yet, something else, perhaps a sense of keen connection across that distance. She looks at him with narrow eyes, eyes narrowed by the intensity of the thought behind them, a sharp kind of receptivity in her manner.

These are the existential moments captured by Brigitte Lacombe, a photographer who caught the wave of a film renaissance that started in the seventies with men like Steven Spielberg and carried on through the eighties, an era that gave us treasures like Sophie’s Choice, played exquisitely by Meryl Streep, who is still going strong at sixty years of age.

Lacombe captures the essence of that era, as well as our current state of affairs, along with a few quirky shots, such as Miuccia Prada, the woman behind the fashion line, bathing neck-deep in pool water, bedecked in a magnificent hairpiece. It captures the spirit of Prada’s fashion: somewhat out of place, yet somehow appropriate. The sparkling features of the hairpiece compliment the sunlight reflecting in the pool, which swirls around her like so many strands of radiant DNA. Even if it’s the last thing a woman would generally wear to swim, it somehow fits, like everything Prada; an occasion for a daring woman to make a daring statement.

One of the pictures that really caught my eye was the capture of Streep with Styron, the author of Sophie’s Choice. His arm is stretched and resting against a wall behind Streep, who stands beside him, absorbing everything he says. Again, there is the same intensity with which Blanchett looked at her director; the humble look of a person taking orders. Intensity and humility are special combinations in both Blanchett and Streep.

Connectivity is a theme of Lacombe’s, whether it’s the author-actor, the director-actor, or in the case of Winslet and Mendes, husband-wife, though sometimes actor-director, a la Revolutionary Road. Winslet wraps her arms around Mendes, wearing a tank top, though he is dressed in a scarf and coat. Although they present the contrast of coolness and heat, they’re both wearing black, a conductor of warmth. Winslet’s hair is arranged in a haphazard bun, which allows her hair to flow freely over her face, while Mendes’ hair is carefully combed. Cool, warm, expressive, subtle, they’ve both clearly given themselves to each other without reservation as they lean their heads together with an affection that can’t be faked.

In contrast to the connectivity between Kate and Sam, Lacombe also captures isolation. She photographs Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of Gangs of New York, holding a camera above his head, as high as he can reach. The character he plays has not quite left his eyes and he grips the camera more tightly than necessary. The camera set against the vintage clothing creates the sense of disconnectivity, yet the passion in Leo’s demeanor holds it together, as if he has bridged the gap between centuries with the things that always have been and always will be: determination, drive, passion, intellect, endurance, capacity. In the end, there’s really no such thing as isolation, just connection from a great distance.

Lacombe’s work is a window on a world that many people want to enter. It’s quirky, it’s heart-felt, at times cocky and narcissistic, but overall, Anima Persona captures a world that is absolutely engrossing.

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