Lynne Ramsay’s latest work is a short documentary film, showing at Sheffield Doc/Fest, capturing a detailed and intimate conversation with photographer Brigitte Lacombe. French photographer Lacombe is a practising fashion photographer, working with the likes of Vanity Fair, GQ, and Glamour. The relationship Lacombe has with film particularly is fairly interesting, having worked closely on set and in editorials with actors such as Dustin Hoffman and Donald Sutherland, and directors such as Sam Mendes and Martin Scorsese, since attending Cannes in 1975. Through these various forms of photography throughout the decades, Ramsay and Lacombe discuss life through the lens. 

Whilst only running at a perhaps economic thirty minutes in length, the film is effortlessly cool, expansive and full of admiration for the work of the prolific Lacombe. Ramsay manages to maintain a stylised yet naturalistic conversation recording, which in appearance seamlessly transitions from 16mm to 35mm to digital. The combination of sharp, widening shots brutally pop into close, more personal shots of Lacombe’s subjects, set against an evocative demonstration of strong sound design. The documentary is filmed on the set of Lacombe’s latest work for Prada subsidiary Miu Miu, in which this fragmented dissection of herself and her subjects reflect her work as a photographer. Through the series of montages and candid portraits of Lacombe, a punk rock band, and several models, there is an exploration of what it is to be and why, how love and blood tie us together. 

As a biographical piece about Lacombe, her subjects discuss their own lives and relationships, which add to a nuanced portrait of an artist still at the top of her game. Though this may slip under the radar in larger reflections on Ramsay’s work, it is a valuable and earnest addition to her impressive oeuvre. 

RATING: 4/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Brigitte Lacombe

DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay

WRITER: Lynne Ramsay

SYNOPSIS: Documentary conversation focusing on the work and life of French photographer Brigitte Lacombe.

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