Photographs reveals life of actors just before curtain up

Photographer Simon Annand was at Scarborough Art gallery yesterday to present his new exhibition which includes intimate portraits of the likes of Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Hopkins, Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes and Judi Dench, taken over the past 30 years.

It is called In The Half: Photographs of Actors Preparing for the Stage, and is a series of photos catching the private 30 minutes when actors are in their dressing rooms before the curtain goes up.

“My work is very specific, about a particular situation with a great deal of focus”, said Mr Annand, who grew up in Reading, and worked as a gardener before deciding to pursue a career in photography.

“There’s an intimacy, a closeness and vulnerability.

“My preferred way is to almost know the picture before I take it. I don’t go in and take a lot.

“I have to be open to the rhythm of the actor and have to earn the right to take their picture.

“I try to show people as workers, not the finished glamorous product.”

The exhibition runs at the gallery until June 26.