This photograph was taken by Claude Schwartz, a famous French film still photographer who utilised many of the paparazzi aesthetics. As the set photographer for over 50 feature films, Schwartz has significant clout in the industry and employing the flash techniques of the paparazzi proved their potency and effectiveness for film still photography. Here Bardot is backstage, fixing her hair in a mirror. The photo is of a private moment in Bardot's life in which she is acknowledging herself, not the camera and thus is not able to combat the spectator's voyeuristic gaze with her own. Bright stage lights create odd bleeding-white shapes in the image, encasing Bardot in a luminous halo which further distinguishes her from the backs of those watching her in the frame. The other individuals in the photo act as a buffer between Schwartz and Bardot because they further denote the photographer's position in the darkness and the star's position in the light. Finally, Schwartz uses a low-angle shot, making Bardot seem larger than life, as a literal reenactment of her symbolic elevated status.

Backstage during the filming of Jean Aurel's 1961 La Bride sur le cou. Bardot plays the role of Sophie, a flighty young model, who learns that her boyfriend is planning to leave her for another woman. She thus resolves to either win him back or assassinate her rival. A handsome doctor (who happens to be falling for Sophie himself) assists her with the former plan so that she won't have to resort to the latter.

The reverse of the photograph is stamped with the following information:

CLAUDE SCHWARTZ
PHOTOGRAPHE DE PRESSE
78 RUE GAY LUSSAC PARIS V
DANTON 56-26

10JANV.1961

and captioned 'la bride sur le cou'