David “Chim” Seymour was a pioneering photographer and photojournalist who co-founded Magnum Photos with Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and George Rodger in 1947. Seymour photographed post-war Europe extensively, focusing particularly on the continent’s youth – work that would become his project and book Children of Europe.
Seymour – credited by Cartier-Bresson for bringing business-mindedness to Magnum – worked on numerous commercial commissions for major publications, including shooting portraits of some of the most iconic cultural figures of the 20th century, including Sophia Loren, Pablo Picasso and Richard Avedon. This photograph of Audrey Hepburn was taken in Paris in 1956, three years after her breakout starring role in Roman Holiday, for which she won the BAFTA for Best Actress. Seymour’s biographer, Carole Naggar, wrote of his portraiture work: “His unobtrusive manner and sense of humour, his ability to listen, helped in the creation of portraits that went beyond the usual ‘glamour shots’, conveying an air of relaxed intimacy.”