One of my favourite escapist photography books is Riviera Cocktail by the Irish born photographer Edward Quinn (1920–1997). It captures the fabulous fashion and joie de vivre of life on the Côte d’Azur during the “golden age” of the 1950s. Nice, Cannes and Monte Carlo was the backdrop for Quinn’s photographs of celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Marlon Brando, Somerset Maugham, Aristotle Onassis and many others. He was never a paparazzo – Quinn has credited Henri Cartier-Bresson as an early influence for his natural, sensitive portrayals of the great and the good.

A new edition of his book Stars and Cars in the ‘50s combines Quinn’s passion for bringing out the best in people and also the flamboyance of post-war car design. Featured among others are Brigitte Bardot in her Lancia, and the Onassis’ in their Porsche. Quinn’s first car, by the way, was a French Mathis, which the still-unknown Audrey Hepburn once had to bump-start after a photoshoot. Later Quinn owned a succession of Peugeots he affectionately referred to as “Poojoos”.

Quinn counted many artists as friends – Picasso was the most significant – their friendship began in 1951 and lasted until the artist’s death in 1973. During those 20 years an extensive photographic opus evolved around Picasso and they collaborated on books and films. Included in Stars and Cars is Picasso in his Hispano-Suiza. Quinn also worked on collaborations with a number of artists including Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Francis Bacon, Salvador Dalí and David Hockney and others.

In the 1990s, Quinn moved to Lake Zurich and lived there, until his death in 1997, with his Swiss wife Gret who continued to supervise the comprehensive Edward Quinn Archive. I thoroughly recommend a virtual visit to this (www.edwardquinn.com), where Quinn shares anecdotes on his encounters with actors and life on the Riviera. It’s a stylish way to time travel and remember Quinn’s contribution to photography.

Need to Know: Stars and Cars of the ’50s by Edward Quinn, Introduction by Jürgen Lewandowski, teNeues Verlag, €50; www.teneues.com.