‘Selfie’ on the stairs, c late 1930s © Sinatra Family Archives
‘Selfie’ in the medicine cabinet, c late 1930s © Sinatra Family Archives
Shoot me shooting you, c mid 1940s © Sinatra Family Archives/Nancy Sinatra
‘Sinatra at 100: A Century in the Making’, at Proud Chelsea gallery in London, is billed as an intimate collection of rare and unique images from the Sinatra Family Archive.
It features self-portraits taken by a young Sinatra alongside recently discovered family photos and those taken at the peak of Sinatra’s career by photographers such as Terry O’Neill.
O’Neill was granted access to Sinatra on the road, backstage and at his home.
The archive includes O’Neill’s famous shot of Sinatra walking to the film set on the Miami Boardwalk (below).
Frank Sinatra, Miami Beach, 1968 © Terry O’Neill
‘O’Neill passed Sinatra a letter, he opened it, read it, crumpled it up in his pocket and turned to his security men and said, “this kid’s with me”,’ recalls Proud Chelsea – the gallery that will exhibit the archive from 3 December.
‘Experimenting with photography, learning how to use a camera and developing his own photographs was something Sinatra enjoyed and when reflecting on this shoot O’Neill said, “Sinatra was a very good photographer himself.
“He knew about lighting and composition so subconsciously he might have been helping me a bit in some shots.”’
The gallery, which will showcase the photos until 10 January, added: ‘These images of one of the century’s most enduring icons were used on album covers and as publicity shots of Sinatra on stage, in the studio and just relaxing with his friends.
‘Many of these photos were commissioned by Sinatra’s record labels and are being released as fine art prints for the first time after being discovered in the respective archives of Capitol Records and Warner Music.’
For details of Proud Chelsea visit www.proud.co.uk
