Benno Graziani

The allure of celebrity is infinite. Yet while the public's appetite for the latest superstar images is both insatiable and controversial, the paparazzi can only get so close to the objects of our fascination. World-renowned photographic journalist Benno Graziani was one of the privileged few. His friendship with the legendary jetsetters of the past gave him an exclusive entree in to this illustrious world.

The black and white images on display at Hamiltons are selected from the fifties, sixties and early seventies glory days of the rich and famous. Both the locations and subjects are breathtakingly, intimidating glamorous. Audrey Hepburn, Errol Flynn and Juan Carlos of Spain are captured in relaxed, unguarded shots as they languish on their respective yachts and planes drifting between the exotic French-Italian Riviera.

By far the most engaging figure, however, is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a name that will always be synonymous with staggering wealth, elegance and dignity. She is also considered one of the most enigmatic icons of our time. Graziani was a friend of Jackie’s, having worked with her in the pre-Kennedy days on the Washington Times Herald. He holidayed with her on a number of occasions, thereby witnessing and documenting her lifestyle on an intimate level. If anyone was capable of unravelling her mystique it would be him.

The magnitude of Graziani’s unique relationship with Jackie is captured in the most striking image here. Taken in Amalfi, Italy in 1962, it depicts her in trademark dark glasses and headscarf with a backdrop of paparazzi. She is smilingly wryly at Graziani’s camera, while the press behind her can only look on with bemused envy.

Despite the playful nature of many of these shots, there is also the inescapable aura of impending doom. A photograph of Jackie and Aristotle Onassis unwrapping Christmas gifts at the beginning of their marriage in 1969 prefigures their union’s acrimonious breakdown in the mid seventies. Even the joyful moment that the two former Livanos sisters share at St Moritz in 1957 was to be short lived. Both of them married shipping billionaires and rivals Onassis and Stavros Niarchos. Their later deaths from drug overdoses summoned up the spectre of the most inexorable Greek tragedy, so at odds with their earlier carefree lives.

Alex Hopkins

Benno Graziani, Private Collection, Hamiltons Galleries, 13 Carlos Place, London, W1K 2EU, until 12 October.