Loomis Dean, “Gene Kelly, France”, 1960, Printed in Life Magazine
Loomis Dean was a veteran Life Magazine photographer who had a five-decade long career. He studied photography at the Eastman School of Photography in Rochester, New York. His first photography job was in 1938 working as an advance man and photographer for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Dean was an Army Air Force photographer during World War Two.
In 1947, Loomis Dean joined the staff of Life Magazine, shooting images of celebrities, royal weddings, fashion shows, riots, and Mideast wars. He joined Life’s Paris bureau in 1956. This image, taken by Loomis Dean in 1960, shows Gene Kelly at dinner after his triumph performance at the Paris Opera. To his left is seated prima ballerina Claude Bessy, with her chin on her hands.