The World's Most Photographed: James Dean

Series which decodes the public image of ten of the world's most photographed people. In just three films and a career spanning 18 short months, James Dean captured the imagination of a new generation, hungry for a different kind of Hollywood hero - sensitive, spontaneous, unconventional and sexually ambiguous. His sudden, violent death in a car crash aged just 24 guaranteed him the immortality he craved and fixed his image as the beautiful rebellious youth in the public's mind forever. One photoshoot, just seven months before his death, managed to capture the essence of the troubled, enigmatic Dean like no other. In February 1955, photographer Dennis Stock was given unique access to the new star, travelling with him to his home town of Indiana, then on to New York and LA. Their intimate collaboration would result in some of the most revealing, enduring and disturbing images of Dean ever taken. This film tells the story of the extraordinary shoot that would become his epitaph.