François-Marie Banier, perhaps one of the foremost celebrity photographers of the twentieth century

François-Marie Banier is perhaps one of the foremost celebrity photographers of the twentieth century. I remember how, at the exhibition of his work in the Manege some 15 years ago, I was struck by the number of remarkable people whom Banier had managed to capture. But he is known not only for his work but also for his friendship with the great: from his youth he was a familiar figure in the company of such luminaries as Salvador Dalí, Lilya Brik and Yves Saint Laurent, and, having begun to shoot early, he produced over several decades an incredible number of photographs of stars, politicians, royals and simply vivid, unusual people. Banier is now 76; he continues his career as a photographer and also appears as a novelist and playwright, less gifted in those fields, but he has not lost his grip.