Cannes Photographer Matthew Baron's Trick to Get Stars to Look at His Camera

Matthew Baron, a Hollywood freelance photographer, revealed his technique for getting celebrities to look directly at his camera during the Cannes Film Festival. He balances the camera on one hand and points at the lens with the other, which sometimes elicits a wave or point back from the talent. When that fails, he resorts to shouting names, straining his voice. Baron works in the coveted first section of the red carpet, where actors come directly to his area, but he has only a brief moment to capture a shot. He describes begging with his eyes like a silent film star for a solo fashion shot, calling it "the currency" because stars may only do it once. Last year, Denzel Washington had a heated exchange with a photographer who grabbed him. This year's festival featured a documentary titled AVEDON about Richard Avedon and controversy over AI images in Steven Soderbergh's film John Lennon: The Last Interview.