Now You Can Access The Most Iconic Images From Cinema History

From the glamour of the Hollywood Golden Age to modern film classics in the making, getting hold of the most famous movie photos of all time has just become a whole lot easier.

Steve McQueen in Bullitt

Bullitt (1968) Steve McQueen on the streets of San Francisco

Picture agency Shutterstock this week announced the acquisition of over 750,000 images from two prominent photo collections: The Art Archive and The Kobal Collection.

The Kobal Collection, founded by the late John Kobal, who was a film historian and collector of movie memorabilia, is the world’s leading film photo archive. It holds over a million images from the earliest days of cinema to the very latest releases. Among the collection are numerous memorable portraits of screen legends.

Audrey Hepburn

Both collections, previously held by UK-based The Picture Desk, are now available to Shutterstock Premier customers around the world.

Ben Pfeifer, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Shutterstock, says, ‘The Art Archive and Kobal Collection immortalize some of the finest works of art and ancient historic events, and over a hundred years of iconic cinematic legends.

Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur

BEN HUR (1959) Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston

‘These collections are the cornerstone of our archival art and entertainment offering, ‘ Pfeifer continues, ‘From the “Mona Lisa” to vintage Marilyn Monroe, together these collections represent a unique wealth of rare images which are invaluable for book publishing, documentaries, or creative projects.’

Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Here are some of our favourite portraits that are available from The Kobal Collection.

Marlon Brando on the set of On The Waterfront

Lauren Bacall

Yul Brynner star of Westworld

James Dean starred in Giant with Elizabeth Taylor

Ida Lupino was the first woman to direct a film noir with The Hitch-Hiker in 1953

Marilyn Monroe promotional shot from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Marilyn Monroe Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

About the author

Cassam Looch

Editorial Manager

Cassam Looch has been working within travel for more than a decade. An expert on film locations and set jetting destinations, Cassam is also a keen advocate of the many unique things to do in his home city of London. With more than 50 countries visited (so far), Cassam also has a great take on the rest of the world.