Film stars, photographers and fans: the other side of Cannes

The Guardian

27-05-2025

After focusing on documentary portraiture from the 70s and 80s, Ridgers says he never expected to do a book about his experience in Cannes. However, after seeing Oriol Maspons' Ibiza series, featuring hundreds of photos from the days when the island was still relatively undiscovered, Ridgers felt maybe he could offer a similar viewpoint of the film festival. 'My photos capture a sense of time and place. Rather than heading to the red carpet, I went to the beach to capture what was happening there.' Here, Stallone stands on a chair surrounded by fans and paparazzi. All photographs by Derek Ridgers
Prior to social media, many aspiring actors and models headed to Cannes in the hope of getting their photo taken and becoming famous. It was a trend kickstarted by Brigitte Bardot who, in 1953, posed in a tropical printed bikini to promote the film Manina, the Girl in the Bikini. The resulting photos became front page news. Ridgers noticed that photographers would roam the beach asking women to pose for them. Here he captures a woman called Jasmine who, before the crowd descended, was quietly sunbathing
Ridgers explains that if a famous actor wanted to get papped they would arrive on a yacht that would dock at the main pier. This allowed all the awaiting photographers to rush over. Here the Hulk star and American bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno takes a turn. Ridgers describes his book as 'not a serious photo book. It is just a bit of lighthearted frivolity about an era which is no longer around'
The fashion photographer Helmut Newton first began shooting at Cannes in the 70s. Ridgers said he attracted a huge crowd who would gather around to watch him at work. At one point, Ridgers found himself right at the front. 'Newton turned and said, 'Hey, you're so close, why don't you get in the photo too?' I wasn't sure if he was joking, but I did and he took some images. I have never seen them. It might have just been a trick to get me to move out the way'
Ridgers says not everyone will like his book, pointing to shots of topless women and even photographers engaged in upskirting, a practice made illegal in France in 2018. 'It doesn't show the photographers in their finest hour,' he says. While some have argued it was a different time, Ridgers says, 'It wasn't that different. The word upskirting didn't exist at the time but it did seem absurd and ridiculous for photographers to be doing it. But that's why I wanted to photograph them doing it. I thought: what if someone they knew saw them doing this?'
Ridgers says he was never asked by any of the other photographers to stop taking pictures of them taking pictures. 'If I stand near a beautiful woman, I'm invisible [to the photographers]. They don't see me. They don't care about me. They are just focused on her.' This shot was taken while having lunch at a beach club. 'These two were friends and larking around for the benefit of the cameras. There were loads of photographers hanging around. There's an obvious sexual metaphor here, but I didn't notice it until I was doing the edit decades later'
A pornographic film awards ceremony called the Hot d'Or (a tongue-in-cheek take on Palme d'Or) was held close to the Cannes film festival from 1992 to 2001. Ridgers describes the 'intersection as crazy'. He chose this photo of Amore, an American porn star, as he liked the inclusion of the photographers standing on the bridge. The line stretched all the way around the pool. Ridgers had previously shot Amore in LA for a publication where they became friends, hence his front row spot. Amore died in 2016 aged 48
When Ridgers wasn't allowed to bring his camera to events or was trying to blag his way into parties, he would hide his Olympus MJU, a tiny, palm-sized camera, in one sock and a roll of film in the other. 'I didn't get accreditation most years but all the best places won't let you in with accreditation anyway.' This shot of Blur's Damon Albarn and his then-girlfriend Justine Frischmann, co-founder of both Suede and Elastica, was taken at a Trainspotting party. 'I don't think there could be a better party than that. It was wall-to-wall celebrities'
Taking place close to the Croisette was an annual competition to be crowned Miss Dodue. 'Dodue means plump in French,' Ridgers explains. 'It was a common competition in seaside towns and this was quite a famous one.' He found this shot while trawling through his vast archive. Stored between his office and a garden room, it features more than 5,000 prints – '40 years' worth of negatives and a lot of transparencies'
Ridgers captured this shot of the Hollywood star as he was being driven into the Carlton hotel. 'I was in a huge crowd,' he says. 'It was a melee. Everyone was rubbernecking trying to see who was coming.' Eastwood's driver happened to have his window slightly lowered, so Ridgers stuck his trusted Olympus MJU in between the gap and pushed the shutter button. The driver didn't stop. Ridgers only discovered he had a good shot once he got the roll developed. 'Eastwood obviously didn't mind me taking it. He is smiling at me'
Ridgers could be described as the ultimate photobomber. 'They would shout 'monsieur, monsieur, move!' but I'd pretend not to hear them.' He has searched for photos of this shot from the photographers' point of view, but has yet to find any. Ridgers stopped attending Cannes in 1996, when updated French privacy laws meant he would need consent from everyone featured in a photo taken in a public area. But he is open to going again. 'I might try and find something else to do, some different angle. I'm never going to turn down a chance to photograph anything where lots of people get together'