Shooting stars.

A new photography exhibition at The Lowry gets up close and personal with some of Britain’s biggest stage stars. Taking its name from the half-hour before curtain up, The Half goes backstage to show thespians including Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Jude Law in surprisingly frank poses. ‘The half’ is a private time for an actor; it is the thirty minutes when everyone is cleared out and the actors are left alone to focus on the performance ahead. As a result, the half is rarely captured on film – but it’s something that photographer Simon Annand, working over a period of 25 years, has managed with remarkable results.

‘I try to remain as open as possible to the rhythms of the room, and be aware that actors differ from performance to performance,’ says Annand as he explains how he snapped actors at their most vulnerable. ‘The atmosphere in my photographs is one of honesty and intimacy. These are people who are prepared to be affected by emotion, who are gathering themselves before a performance and quite often the mood is one of melancholy.’

Annand’s portraits range from a young Antony Hopkins, then a little-known actor in the 1980s, to Daniel Radcliffe (AKA Harry Potter) during his more recent West End debut. Annand himself knows his stuff when it comes to the theatre. As a photographer he has worked with pretty much every leading company going: the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Court and The Old Vic to name a few. He also has a fan-base among the acting fraternity. ‘He is an individualist with an eye for the unusual,’ said Judi Dench of his work for this exhibition. ‘The results speak for themselves.’

The Half: Photographs of Actors by Simon Annand, The Lowry. From 19 September until 3 January 2010. Free.

Main image: The Half: Photographs of Actors by Simon Annand. Alison Steadman

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