Name Howell Conant | Role Photographer | |
 | ||
Born March 13, 1916 ( 1916-03-13 ) Alma mater University of WisconsinArt Center College of Design Education University of Wisconsin-Madison Books Grace an Intimate Portrait, Grace, Audrey Hepburn in Fruhstuck Bei Tiffany | ||
Howell T. Conant, Senior (March 13, 1916 – March 11, 1999) was an American fashion photographer noted for his portraits of the American actress and later Princess Consort of Monaco, Grace Kelly.
Contents
Life
Conant's father was a professional photographer who owned a studio in Marinette, Wisconsin. Conant studied photography at the University of Wisconsin and at the Art Center College of Design in Pasedena. During World War II Conant stationed at Pearl Harbor and was part of the Naval photographic team operating under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Conant later took pictures for Life, Look and Paris Match among other publications, and photographed celebrities from Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn to American presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. Conant died at his home in Carefree, Arizona in 1999. He was survived by his wife, Dorothy; with whom he had four children.
Grace Kelly
In 1955 Conant was commissioned by Photoplay magazine to do a cover shoot with Grace Kelly, then a leading film actress. Following the Photoplay shoot, Kelly holidayed in Jamaica, with her sister, and invited Conant. He photographed her without makeup in a naturalistic setting, a departure from the traditional portrayal of actresses. The resulting photographs were published in the June 24 issue of Collier's magazine, with a celebrated photo of Kelly rising from the water with wet hair making the cover.
Conant wrote that he thought that Kelly's sole flaw in her appearance was her jaw, which he considered too square. He would use a dog or a baby to disguise it when photographing her below her jaw. Conant later said that "You trusted Grace's beauty...You knew it wasn't built from clothes and makeup...this was Grace: natural, unpretentious".
Kelly sailed on the SS Constitution from New York to Monaco for her marriage to Prince Rainier in 1956. Many photographers were on board the ship, but only Conant had access to Kelly. Following her marriage Conant was the unofficial photographer to the House of Grimaldi, and extensively photographed Kelly, her husband and their three children. In 1992 Conant published Grace, a book of photographs that he took during Kelly's 26-year reign as Princess of Monaco.
In September 1982, Conant was planning a trip to Monaco to take the family's official Christmas portrait. Upon hearing that Princess Grace had died in a car accident, he left without his photographic equipment. Conant remained friends with Prince Rainier until his death.