Traverso said that despite the less relaxed atmosphere, he still loves the give-and-take he has with his subjects. “If the star wants to play with the photographer, it’s a pleasure,” he said. The Americans are particularly good at it, he added, and know “they have to make also a show when they are in front of a photographer.”
David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes, who has known Traverso since the 1990s, said in an email that his contributions to the festival have been “immense.”
“Through his shots, we witness the evolution of the festival,” Lisnard said. “It is an exhaustive, precise collection with both artistic and historical value.”
Until recently, Traverso would spend the rest of his time taking freelance photographs for local newspapers like Nice-Matin, which described him in a 2016 article as “the white wolf,” who was often spotted riding around town on his motorcycle and smoking cigarettes. According to Nice-Matin, he and members of his family had worked with the paper since 1945.
Thierry Frémaux, the director of the festival, said in an email that the work of the photographers has been crucial to the festival’s success, and that Traverso, whom he has known since 2001, “has a special place in the world of photography: He’s from Cannes and he embodies an extraordinary lineage and family.”
Next year will be Traverso’s 50th festival, “if God and Thierry Frémaux want,” he said. But he is otherwise focused on his family’s legacy, and its vast archive that includes about 200,000 festival photos. He has occasionally displayed some of them in exhibitions in other cities, including New York, London and Tokyo.
