“An
image can capture more than a moment, but a feeling and an emotion.
Harnessing the power of immortality through a lens. The image and woman
you see here is not the same as the woman or the image she portrays
today, and yet her image exists forever - a femme fatale. Both a
haunting for herself and a shrine for who she is remembered as. This
image itself replicated over and over, evolving, and ever changing. Her
image massively reproduced, a by-product of society for society” -
Russell Young.
“They may call me a sinner, but I am at peace with myself” - Brigitte Bardot.
O’Neill captured this image of Bardot in 1971 in Spain while shooting on the set of the Western Comedy The Legend of Frenchie King, directed by Christian-Jaque.
The
shot, depicting a windswept Bardot with a cigar hanging loosely from
her parted lips, is considered to be one of O’Neill’s most iconic
photographs; and is part of the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent
collection in London. A result of the last frame O’Neill had left on
set, the image’s composition culminated in a spontaneous moment of
energy. ‘I noticed that when the wind gusted there was the potential for
a great picture. When the time came, I only had one frame left – one
shot at it. But suddenly the wind swept her hair across her face, and it
was a knock-out’ -O’Neill.
However, it is the close-up shot of Bardot that remains ingrained in
the public’s memory. Bardot’s strands of hair partially obscuring her
eyes; paired with the monochrome palette emphasizing the tones and
shadows of her delicate face propel her portrait into a quintessential
O’Neill image.