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En mai 1973, la célèbre photographe de théâtre allemande Helga Kneidl a passé trois jours complets avec Romy Schneider à Paris. La comédienne était de retour dans la capitale après avoir rompu avec Harry Meyen. Cette rencontre peut être considérée comme une chance unique : les deux femmes se sentirent immédiatement proches et complices. Toutes deux, l’actrice et la photographe, venaient du même monde. Helga Kneidl consacrait elle aussi ses jours comme ses nuits à la vie artistique et travaillait à la Schaubühne, l’un des plus grands théâtres de Berlin. Les photographies intimes d’Helga Kneidl comptent sans doute parmi les plus belles de Romy Schneider.  En même temps, elles respectent profondément le secret de l’actrice et le mythe qui l’entoure.

Helga Kneidl est née en 1939. Elle suit d’abord une formation  de danseuse auprès de la célèbre Gret Palucca, à Dresde, puis, plus tard, se tourne vers la photographie de théâtre dont elle sera l’une des plus éminentes représentantes. L’ensemble de ses photographies de théâtre, de ses portraits et de ses négatifs a été acquis par le Deutsches Theatermuseum de Munich, excepté la série de portraits réalisés avec Romy Schneider, qu’Helga Kneidl avait choisi de garder pour elle.

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In May 1973, the renowned theatre photographer spent three full days with Romy Schneider in Paris. This is where the actor moved to after her separation from Harry Meyen. Helga Kneidl‘s photographs count undisputedly as some of the best photographs ever taken off Romy Schneider. They afford us a timeless, flawlessly beautiful intimacy. Yet those qualities were her also secret and myth. This three-day meeting in Paris can be considered a stroke of luck. The two women felt immediately close and confiding, because the actor and the photographer lived in the same world. Helga Kneidl also lives day and night for the performing arts at the Schaubühne in Berlin. Helga Kneidl is certainly no press photographer. When one views the negatives, one is left positively breathless. For this is not, as is typical, a series of shots that only differ in nuances. Even the most dreamlike photographs each display their own uniqueness. And these are in every respect perfect. This highly concentrated working approach stems from her theatre photography. In this way, Helga Kneidl exposed six 35 mm films in three days. This awareness is always perceptible in these intimate images. From this treasure trove come over 25, which have partly never before been made public and are viewable for the first time in Frankfurt.  – –– Helga Kneidl (*1939), was a dancer—trained by the great Gret Palucca in Dresden. As a theatre photographer, she became famous at the Schaubühne in Berlin (with Peter Stein) and through her long-standing engagement at the Deutsches SchauSpielhaus in Hamburg. The Deutsche Theatermuseum in Munich has acquired all her theatre photographs and portraits, including all her negatives. It was only the series with Romy Schneider that Helga Kneidl withheld.