Roy Schatt

oy Schatt was born in 1909 in New York, he first worked in advertising and then specialized in photography and acting for Lee Strasberg's acting studio. Roy Schatt revolutionized the photographic style in the 50s and 60s. He will then leave aside the very mannered aspect of the time, the photographer invents a style: the "uninhibited" style. As in his famous series "Torn sweater". The "ripped hoodie" series showing a young actor: James Dean. The first photograph shows a James Dean pulling on his collar, this photograph must be the most famous of the whole series. It will also be used a lot in advertisements and published in many magazines. This session of December 29, 1954, in the New York studio of photographer Roy Schatt for a commission from the American magazine "Life" will mark his career forever. However, the photos will never appear in “Life”. This session will also reveal the young James Dean who will then gradually become friends with Roy Schatt. The photographer will later become his mentor, over the photographs we also feel a bond being created between the two protagonists. In 1956, after the death of James Dean, Roy Schatt met Steve McQueen, then unknown at the time. Together, they will make some pictures. There too, it will bring out the beauty and sensuality of the young man. However, the most moving photographs are undoubtedly those of Marilyn Monroe in 1955. At the time, she was a student at the Strasbourg theater school. Roy Schatt will distinguish her among the students in dark costumes, already seeing the star and the light emanating from this young student. With this photograph, we notice the style of Roy Schatt which asserts itself, it will also become the precursor of another style, that of the minimalist black and white portrait. Beyond the technique, he will manage with this style to bring out all the sincerity of his models. Roy Schatt will arrive with a disconcerting facility to bring out the naturalness, the purity, the benevolence in his photographs, thus making his moving images, but especially timeless!