Born in Blackheath in 1937, the actor and activist Vanessa Redgrave comes from a family already famous in the world of stage and screen. The daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and sister of Colin and Lynn Redgrave, after studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama, in 1958 she made her stage debut in A Touch of Sun. The following year she appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and two years later was widely praised for her portrayal of Rosalind in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions of As You Like It.In 1962, still a rising star in the world of theatre, and by now married to the film director Tony Richardson, Redgrave played Imogen in Cymbeline, directed by Bill Gaskill for the RSC at the Aldwych Theatre. That year she featured in Mademoiselle magazine in the United State, with photographs by Sandra Lousada and was also on the cover of the June 4th international issue of Life magazine, dressed for her role as Rosalind.
On Monday 22nd January 1962, Redgrave’s name appears in the studio diary of the Adrian Flowers studio: “7.30 Flair Vanessa Redgrave 13 Grenvill Pl FRE2591 . . pale yellow walls blue velvet dress”. Judging by the entry, the appointment was for a planned article in Flair magazine. While bearing the same name as the magazine founded by Fleur Fenton Cowles in 1950, the Flair magazine for which Adrian Flowers photographed Redgrave was a quite separate publication, specializing in fashion and beauty as well as feature articles. The diary entry indicates that the photograph session was to take place in Kensington; 13 Grenville Place is just north of Cromwell Road. The twelve photographs taken that evening are all informal, with Redgrave laughing, chatting and posing for the camera. While contact sheet 4169 consists of three strips of four images, making a total of twelve, one of the original negative strips is missing from the AF Archive—perhaps because it was sent to Flair magazine.
photographed by Adrian Flowers
The images are beguiling. A seasoned professional, Redgrave is both relaxed and also aware of the camera, turning her head, smiling, and radiating confidence and a warm human spirit. Since infancy, she had been photographed by some of the top names in photography, including Angus McBean, Yousuf Karsh, George Konig, Paul Tanqueray, and, in 1962, by Tony Eyles. Seven of the photographs by Adrian Flowers are head and shoulders, while the rest show her dressed in a high-necked shirt, with dark slacks and stockinged feet, sitting informally on a couch, legs crossed or feet resting on a low table. She wears no jewellery, little make-up, and her abundant hair is pinned back with a hairclip. The couch has sheets draped over it, to conceal the brightly patterned fabric. In several, she is smoking a cigarette. The background is a plain wall.In a period when portrait photography emphasized fashion, make-up and accessories, these photographs by Adrian Flowers stand out as a record of the person Vanessa Redgrave, direct, honest and fearless, rather than portraying her as a star of stage and screen.
Text: Peter Murray
Editor: Francesca Flowers
All images subject to copyright.
Adrian Flowers Archive ©