This year marks a centenary since Ingrid Bergman’s birth. The Festival de Cannes has chosen to pay tribute to the Swedish actress in all her beauty with this year’s poster, based on a photograph of Ingrid by David Seymour. These photos here were also taken by Seymour in 1952 in Santa Marinella, Italy. Her relaxed, natural beauty, dressed in a man’s shirt, shines through, reminding me of her no makeup philosophy she stayed true to all her life. I don’t entirely go by the same rule, but I do subscribe to the less is more belief. Ingrid refused to let Hollywood tinker on her face and image. Cary Grant used to say about the actress (admittedly, I love quoting him on this every time I have the chance): “I was very fond of Ingrid. She was an amazing woman… She used no makeup, not even lip rouge. Why don’t more actresses imitate her instead of going the other way? You can tell how secure a woman is by the amount of makeup she uses.” And if a man, and what a man, says it…
photos: David Seymour, 1952, Santa Marinella, Italy (first image: Ingrid and Gregory Peck)
