Close up on fame

One month after Sid Avery's death, the Tom Blau gallery mounts a timely display of his Hollywood celebrity photography. Here, Avery's photographs evoking the golden age of the movies will be exhibited in his first UK solo show for more than ten years.

Avery's unobtrusive manner gained him the confidence of some of the most notoriously publicity-shy stars, such as Humphrey Bogart and James Dean, as well as access to shoot on the sets of seminal films - including Giant, Rebel Without A Cause and the Rat Pack's original Ocean's Eleven.

Rock Hudson, fresh out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel and a telephone, Marlon Brando looking moody on the bongos, and Audrey Hepburn on the studio back lots, can all be seen in this extensive collection of intimate shots taken over the years. The photographs give a real glimpse of the big names behind the starry facade - unlike today, Avery was working at a time when access to the stars and their image was not the media-groomed, PR-managed exercise it has become.

Sid Avery's Hollywood Lives, Thur 8 Aug-7 Sep, Tom Blau Gallery, 21 Queen Elizabeth Street, Butler's Wharf, SE1 (020-7940 9171).