Annie Lebovitz
“killers kill dead men die”
This photograph is from the Vanity Fair magazine the Hollywood issue. I love the project where I have taken this image from. The spread has a loose narrative, and generally follows the main elements and narratives that film noir usually carried. There are femme fatales, private detectives, reporters, jealous women, hard-boiled cops. What Leibovitz did magnificently, was trying to recapture the spirit, and intrigue, and darkness of film noir. All of the clothing is modern clothing, but it all has that vintage feel that make you think that you’re looking into the past. The clothes aren’t costumes they are modern clothes and the car isn’t from the 40s it’s a 1964 Chrysler imperial. It’s almost saying if you try and make something too perfect it won’t look right, you can have scope to make things a little modern even if you are referring to the past. The lighting with in this image is really interesting. There was a big Bebe night light—a bank of 12 HMI lights—flooding the background. But the foreground was shot with just the light from the old Graflex that the Weegee (the photographer) figure is holding. They had to change the flashbulb each time we shot the picture.
Herb RittsMichelle Pfeiffer
As Herb Ritts is one of the best celebrity photographers he can usually make his subjects do whatever he wants. Ritts has already described this image in detail to Patrick Roegiers. This image is of Michelle Pfeiffer “she wasn’t comfortable with being herself and doing the photograph in front of a still camera. I think she wanted to break stigma of being beautiful. I decided to do her playing different roles, thinking this was a way of taking her out of herself. The photograph we are speaking off is actually a character from a Noel Coward play. I suggested that it would be interesting if she played a man. She had read the play and had the idea of the Noel Coward character Elyot. We put her in an Armani men’s Tuxedo. I dint want to anything to her face. We literally wet her hair parted it and drew on a moustache. She walked down to the steps and sat down she was suddenly Clark Gable. She was in the 20s mode, down to the hand gestures and all. I didn’t tell her what to do.” The idea of this image is almost an alter ego, a made up persona it’s what I enjoy about it.
Annie Lebovitz
“Alice in wonderland”
Produced for Vogue in December 2003 each designer in the series was asked to create the blue dress that Alice is wearing. Other than this I don’t really know a lot about this image. I do really love it though, the narrative structure appeals to me. The fairy tale epic narrative touched by the wand of the style essay, turning fashion into a cultural phenomenon making the clothes become intertwined with photography, literature and technology. Proving the sky is only as far as your imagination.
