AP PHOTOS: The glamour of Cannes in black & white

By The Associated Press The Associated Press
Tom Cruise, second left, gestures upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Top Gun: Maverick' at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Petros Giannakouris]

CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most colorful spectacles in the world — all Cote d’Azur sunshine, palm trees and glittering ballgowns. But the soul of Cannes will always exist in black and white.

The images that first made Cannes synonymous with glamour were captured in monochrome — pictures that still linger in the collective fantasy of the French Riviera extravaganza, where thousands descend annually to participate in a grand, gaudy tradition in the name of cinema.

For the 75th edition of Cannes, which wraps Saturday with the presentation of the Palme d’Or, Associated Press photographer Petros Giannakouris has stalked the red carpet and paced the Croisette seeking glimpses of classic Cannes. In his images past and present eras collide, evoking the timeless allure of the world’s largest film festival.

Here is the sensational swirl of life in Cannes, where dresses get caught in elevators, eyes turn whenever an official car’s doors open and the lobbies of grand hotels hum with activity. Some images show the guarded divisions of Cannes, with lines of security bordering the festival’s parameters. Others stretch into dreamland: A dressed-up woman waiting on a park bench like a fairy tale.

For Giannakouris, who was shooting in Ukraine up until late April, it was welcome break from reality.

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