Hollywood: Confidential - (Dafydd Jones) by Dafydd Jones (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

With unflinching images of the biggest names in 1990s and 2000s showbiz, Hollywood: Confidential is an essential portrait of celebrity culture from behind the scenes.

Hollywood: Confidential is the latest collection of beautifully timed photos from bestselling society photographer Dafydd Jones. Formerly of Tatler and Vanity Fair, Jones is a serial capturer of intimate moments during high-society functions. As famous Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter puts it, when it comes to party photographers, 'Dafydd Jones is the sniper's sniper - the best of the best.'

On numerous occasions in the 1990s and 2000s, Jones turned his lens to the faces of Hollywood with all his usual impudence, as they mingled and danced at private events in the Hollywood Hills, Oscar-night parties and awards ceremonies. The result is a rare thing - photographs that convey the underlying personalities of the world's most public personas.

Following on from England: The Last Hurrah and New York: High Life / Low Life, this is an essential portrait of celebrity culture from behind the scenes, featuring the likes of Anna Nicole Smith, Tom Cruise, Prince, Winona Ryder, Tony Curtis, Oprah, Nicholas Cage and more.

Praise for Dafydd Jones:

"Dafydd catches those moments of genuine exhilaration, wealth and youth." - The Hollywood Reporter

"Mr. Jones goes about his business with cheery zest and a wicked eye." - New York Times

"Some carefully tended public images are punctured with such rapier precision that one can hear the hiss as they deflate." - Mitchell Owens, The World of Interiors

"Sublime vintage photographs..."- Hermione Eyre, the Telegraph

"Modest though he is, Dafydd's photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline." - Country & Townhouse podcast

"The New York book is an evocative historical document, brimming with nostalgia and menace." - Hannah Marriott, The Guardian

"The best party photographers, and their numbers are few, are like snipers... Dafydd Jones is the sniper's sniper - the best of the best." Graydon Carter, foreword from New York: High Life / Low Life

"Dafydd's brilliant evocation of a time and a class only seem more potent today, when we know that so many of the moneyed twits in his '80s portfolio ended up running the country, as they always have" - Tina Brown, The New Yorker

Review Quotes

"Once described by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter as the 'sniper's sniper - the best of the best', Jones' ability to capture the decisive moment made him one of the most sought-after magazine photographers of the day. And these images, taken between 1989 and 2009 (but mostly in the 1990s), provide a candid glimpse of how the other half live."-- "Black + White Photohraphy Magazine"

"One of my prized photos is one that Jones took of Madonna with Mick Jagger and Tony Curtis seated on either side of her. Curtis is leaning heavily into the singer. It's the intimacy of it that amuses me, plus Jagger's face is, well, a picture. A copy adorns a wall in my basement home office." --Baz Bamigboye "Deadline"

"Perfect for fans of old Hollywood and a bygone era of film stars, the newest exhibition at the illustrious 45 Park Lane hotel is well worth a visit."-- "Hello Magazine"

"Photographer Dafydd Jones's insider snapshots go beyond the red carpets and golden statuettes."-- "Vanity Fair"

About the Author

Dafydd Jones (b.1956) grew up in Oxford, and started working for the Bodleian Library aged 16. His pictures of the Oxford University 'Bright Young Things' launched his career. With work published in the Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New York Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, The Times, Independent and Oldie, his photography is held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and the Hyman Collection of British Photography, London; the Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol; the Opsis Foundation, New York; and the Yale Museum of British Art, New Haven.