Jaeger-LeCoultre Hosts Photo Exhibit in New York

Cole Ramstad and his band perform at "The Art of Behind The Scenes."

With the 54th New York Film Festival in full swing, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Finch & Partners celebrated their photographic exhibition “The Art of Behind The Scenes” at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York.

Artist Katie Rodgers paints portraits of guests during the event.

The exhibition reveals black-and-white photographs taken by some of the world’s most accomplished “on-set” photographers providing an opportunity to celebrate the art of photography and to travel back to the golden era of filmmaking with iconic directors and actors.

Guests at the event included Alice Rohrwacher (2016 Filmmaker in Residence), Tom McCarthy, Poppy Jamie, David King Reuben, Lyne Renee, Maren Ade, Sandra Huller, Giorgio DeLuca amongst others.

Celebrating cinema, photography and timeless icons, Jaeger-LeCoultre brightened up the event in an artistic manner with special guest artist Katie Rodgers, Paperfashion, who brought to life cinematic portraits, while the brand highlighted its Art Deco icon, the Reverso, which celebrates its 85th anniversary this year.

Some of the photographs displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition includes a series of contemporary photos taken with a vintage Compass camera developed in 1937 by Jaeger-LeCoultre. The avant-garde and astonishingly sophisticated Compass is a camera that has made an enduring mark on the history of photography thanks to its unique qualities. Issued in a 4,000-piece limited series, it has become a collector’s delight.

Almost a century ago, the history of Jaeger-LeCoultre crossed paths with that of photography. During the period between the two world wars, the manufacture produced a camera that would remain unique in its kind: the Compass.

The adventure began in England thanks to Noel Pemberton Billing, a businessman and pilot who founded an aviation company in his native land, a freight firm in South Africa and a casino in Mexico. This poet, writer and engineer also invented a hundred or so objects including the plane that would give rise to the Spitfire. One evening, in the late 1920s, this brilliant inventor made a bet that he could create a camera of unprecedented quality comprising every possible function and yet small enough to fit inside a cigarette packet!

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Compass

To develop and produce such an object, he soon realized that he would need a fully integrated watch manufacture, one with proven mastery in the field of miniaturization and prepared to take on the challenge. At the time, the Manufacture LeCoultre & Cie, which would subsequently become Jaeger-LeCoultre, already had hundreds of calibers to its credit, including the world’s smallest and thinnest movements, as well as the iconic Atmos clock. In 1934, Pemberton Billing accordingly set off to the Vallée de Joux, where his project met with great enthusiasm.

Three years of development proved necessary to fine-tune the 290 components of the Compass. Launched in 1937, the camera caused a sensation both because of its avant-garde design and its numerous functions. The long list comprises an exposure meter, range finder, telescopic lens shade, inbuilt filters, extinction meter, EV indicator, angle viewfinder, a device for panoramic and stereoscopic views, as well an ultra-light tripod specially designed to accompany it. While World War II and roll-film issues put an end to its career, the Compass remains a much sought-after object among collectors.