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Stumble It!Stars, in our eyes
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007I came across this picture, shot by Steven Klein and appearing in the National Portrait Gallery exhibition Face of Fashion
Kevin Federline, 2005
Steven Klein
The photograph started a rush of instincts and knee-jerk reactions, and then some deep thought. I got beyond my initial aversions to a) Kevin Federline, or specifically, pictures of him and b)pictures up people’s noses to decide that I really, really love this picture. Besides being gorgeous, it succinctly represents a real, tangible, profound element of our society—the becoming, worshiping and destruction of celebrities.
Then I read this quote, from Steven Klein: “To me, a portrait is a representation of a person and a slash across a throat is the equivalent of a brushstroke. It’s like a classical painting. The slash, the make-up, is a mask that reveals who the person is. For me, the break in the skin shows that all portraits are lies. To see through the skin is to see someone’s reality.”
Are all portraits lies? It is interesting to think about, although much too deep (what is the truth of a person?) and general to ever actually resolve. Celebrity portraiture, I’d tend to agree, though what do I know? Not celebrities, that’s for sure. Then, the next picture that popped into my head was this one, of Marilyn Monroe, by Richard Avedon, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Richard Avedon
And the story behind it goes:
“There was no such person as Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe was an invention of hers. A genius invention that she created, like an author creates a character. So when Marilyn Monroe put on a sequin dress and danced in the studio- I mean for hours she danced and sang and flirted, and did this thing. There was no describing what she did, she did Marilyn Monroe… And then there was the inevitable drop because she was someone who went very high up and very way down. And when night was over, she sat in a corner like a child with everything gone. But I wouldn’t photograph her without her knowledge of it. And as I came with the camera, I saw that she was not saying no.”
Then, I thought: Nowadays, you know who probably would be saying no? Her publicists. There would be an army of them, tackling Richard Avedon, all with a vested interest in keeping “Marilyn Monroe” being seen as “Marilyn Monroe”. Thankfully that didn’t happen, because this is definitely my favorite out of all the pictures of Marilyn Monroe. I love everything about it: her expression, her posture; down to every little detail from the sad glimmer of the sequins on her dress to the flyaway hair at the very top of her head.
Then, still thinking: I’m so glad I work with… what are they called? Real people? Non-celebrities? I am interested in people who idolize celebrities, and recently art directed a shoot, exploring the concepts of privacy, surveillance, and travel using the visual language that millions of people see their photos everyday, paparazzi shots:
Katherine Delgra
It was such a fun shoot, and I thought it could be used for a variety of usages… spyware computer software? platinum credit cards? security systems? identity theft protection? Anyway, we’ll see, that’s for our clients to decide…
So who is the model in the shoot? She’s a superstar, to me… Her name is Elizabeth, and I’ve worked with her several times – not only is she beautiful but she makes my job so easy. She has that model/actress look perfect for this shoot (sometimes Cate Blanchett-y, sometimes Giselle-y, there’s even a smidgeon of Princess Di), and she’s so much fun, always laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. She’s the first one to wake up no matter how early the call time, to help the photographer’s assistant carry equipment, or to grab an iron and iron out the wrinkles in clothes. (Paul, the male model in the photos, is amazing as well, although he talks way too much. Really, just goes on and on and on and on and on… Love ya Paul!)
Total Bride breakdown-freakout
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007You realize watching this just how staged all of the wedding imagery you typically see really is, even when it is ‘behind-the-scenes’. Kind of funny, kind of scary. This inspired my newest business-idea-that-I’ll-never-get-around-to-but-should-be-done: Stylist 911. fyi – you can skip about the first 1/4 of the video.
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Who is the Creator?
Monday, January 22nd, 2007Not that one, if He/She even exists… Let’s discuss the trend of artists remaining anonymous and/or trying to keep their identity a mystery. It’s encompassing many forms of creative expression such as art, music, literature: Banksy, Gorillaz, JT Leroy all come to mind.
Banksy’s Sweeping it Under the Carpet – photographed by Dave Etheridge-Barnes/Getty Images; Gorillaz artwork photographed by Scott Barbour / Getty Images; JT Leroy photographed by Franco Origlia/Getty Images.
Banksy, in part a guerilla graffiti/stencilling artist, could be just trying to avoid jail – I don’t know the laws in Britain, but I imagine graffiti is frowned upon. Animated band Gorillaz has some known human members, some supposedly possibly still unknown, who really knows. Writer JT Leroy was exposed as a hoax by The New York Times —the person appearing in disguise in public not being the person who wrote the stories which were in reality a fake memoir … it’s all a bit confusing. With all these examples, and with others, there is plenty of opinions, facts, and ideas.
And speculation, and questions—-which of these are earnest attempts to promote a philosophy, to put an idea above a person? (Who IS John Galt, anyway?) Which are shrewd marketing moves, intended to create publicity -and therefore demand- by seeming to shun it? With surveillance cameras everywhere, and the public ga-ga for Googling, are any of these last-ditch efforts to hold onto some identity and a little anonymity, lest they end up getting ripped a new one on Gawker Stalker for not looking stunning when they walk down the street?
Speaking of stunning, I can’t believe Diana Prince’s co-workers didn’t know she was Wonder Woman. They put the “Oh?” in oblivious! I mean, c’mon. Wonder Woman doesn’t even wear a mask. Clark Kent as Superman, too. Honestly!
Warner Bros./Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Banksy