Monday, March 05, 2007

beauty

Last week I went to see this portrait exhibition with Douglas Kirkland's work.

He is a Canadian photographer (though he lives in L.A. now), especially famous for his portraits of celebrities.
These are some of the pictures that were there...



Audrey has to be my favourite. No one has a face like that!


I may criticize it and sometimes vehemently disdain it, but I'm not indifferent to the celebrity-fever so I really wanted to see this. I'm almost as ashamed as Kim Basinger.


This is his most famous work - his 'night with Marilyn Monroe' (above - classic!)


Julie Delphy, the queen of european movies, in my humble opinion. I'm not sure this photo was there now...

Kirkland took care of the photographs for Titanic, as you can see.


Me and my friend were lucky enough to catch the show before the photos were sent back - we had been there previously but the gallery was closed, so they invited us to visit after the show was finished. We had the portraits all to ourselves and we also spoke to the owner of the gallery for about an hour. What did we talk about? That would make a blog altogether...

Maybe you're distracted over something else...but look at her face - it's perfect!

All of this has reminded me of a song I've been listening to. Vogue by Madonna. It's the sort of song you would associate with celebrities - strike a pose, etc. The way she goes on about "They had style, they had grace, Rita Hayworth gave good face, Lauren, Kathrine, Lana too, Bette Davies we love you, Ladies with an attitude, fellows that were in the mood".
Despite all of this apparent frivolity, I also found a perfect sum of the ideas that have been going on in my mind lately, ideas that I have discussed with some of you...
When she says....
All you need is your own imagination
So use it, that's what it's for
Go inside, for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door
...
Beauty's where you find it
Not just where you pump and grind it
Soul is in the musical
That's where I feel so beautiful
Magical, Life's a ball

So get upon the dance floor

15 comments:

Niall young said...

Frozen in time..I love portraits. I find it especially poigniant as I get older looking at photos of myself as a teenager. To see a brilliant blazing star at it's peak is wonderous to behold..consider Marylin Monroe..how sad that her 'candle' went out long before....(thanks Elton!)

So I find these photos which are by a master of his art fascinating..Iconic..sad and joyful.you were truly blessed to see them all together.

I also lke Patrick Litchfield's work.

holy chaos said...

amazing pic...

Jack N. looks scary. I'll never forget his performance as the joker or in Terms of Endearment.

"yout dreams will open the door" love it!

what dreams do you have??

paula said...

Este fotografo é um clássico. Obrigada pela link. Também gosto das fotos de lugares :)

ps: já percebi porque é que não conseguiste ver o eclipse...no Porto estava nublado ... foi má sorte pois até foi engaçado.

holy chaos said...

i am the queen of typos! amazing pics!

Jack looks scary. I will never forget his performance as the joker in Batman.

your dreams not yout!

i never learned to type! the typing teacher used to come around and hit students on the head with a ruler who looked at their fingers! and i was one of them!

Preeti Shenoy said...

Amazing pictures.Loved them.I really like portraits.
I like "vogue" too.Used to listen to it so much as a teenager.

Eric said...

Who are the first and second photos of?

Devil Mood said...

Niall: Those Marilyn pictures were taken just 6 months before she died. It's just a tiny moment frozen in time, makes you think. I don't know that photographer, need to check him out.

Holychaos: There's nothing wrong with your typing, it was perfectly understandable. Jack N.'s face is unique, isn't it? Oh and God, I wish I knew what my dreams were exactly!

Simple Me: Ainda bem que gostaste! Vi um eclipse da lua há uns anos atrás; agora vou ter de esperar pelo próximo...

PS: I'm having a Madonna-revival lately, it also reminds me of my teenage years, even though it was terribly unfashionable to listen to her in my teens. But it's the greatest music for dancing :)

Eric: That's Catherine Deneuve and Antonio Banderas. :)

Admin said...

beautiful photos! the whole celebrity thing is pretty interesting. i know a few local and l.a. celebrities, and they are just like anyone else....except.that.they.are.celebrities! i'm super into the academic lifestyle, but also have my foot in the door of the entertainment industry (currently deciding which one will be more predominant in my life), so i deal with a lot of prejudice -- one against the other -- on both sides. and sometimes an individual will come along who embraces both, and this always makes me feel more comfortable about my own position (loving both almost equally). i love that in academia over here, pop culture (and entertainment in general) is increasingly seeping in.

kimananda said...

Photography is my favorite of all arts. This just helps to confirm that.

Scholiast said...

I love that photo of Jack Nicholson! I love him too, but that's a little aside, I think ;)

Devil Mood said...

Vesper: It really must be hard trying to balance those two worlds, but you know you're different and you can do it. They both seem tough and demanding, no doubt. I'm sure you can be one of the first to mix them very successfully :)

Kim: It's great! And that must be another line for me to get to Ribeira and start clicking.

Scholiast: He looks devilish, I love that :)

Miss Iyer said...

Amazing portraits!! :)

Very neatly taken, I dont even think I'm fit enough to comment on one of these.

dharmabum said...

er...u get me there devil, i sure did get distracted before reading what u said and actually looking at her face :)

but me liked the jack potrait the best. probably coz i am a fan of him too - so there is the inherent bias.

madelyn said...

I love Julie's portrait -
she is my fave European actress -

the Marily one is ethereal -
....the lighting is quite wonderful in all of them although
i don't sense an essence of the
person - more a "character"

Devil Mood said...

Miss Iyer: I don't comment either, I just appreciate them, I suppose. I know barely nothing of art ;)

Dharmabum: hehe I knew my remark made some sense ;)


Sophie: They are all very showbiz, so I guess that's why they all look so 'on stage'. Perhaps that's what he intended to capture.