I just turned up this picture of last week's 'Fantasy Girlfriend' Isabelle Huppert impersonating the divine Greta Garbo. Swoon.This is in fact a still from a short video that was part of the collection of portrait studies of Ms Huppert that I went to see at Beijing's Ullens Centre for Contemporary Arts last weekend. The exhibition also included a rather similar black-and-white shot by the American fashion photographer Len Prince, one of a series he did back in the early nineties of contemporary celebrities portrayed in the style of classic Hollywood glamour photographs of the 1940s; unfortunately, I can't find that one online.
3 comments:
Froog: I can't find [X] online.
You do know how much this resembles a taunt, don't you?
After a bit of legwork, I am drawn to conclude that there was something about Garbo's face and hands in juxtaposition which just drove photographers mad... There must be dozens of the things. Probably, though, you're thinking of a classic photo by Edward Steichen, taken in 1928 but used on the cover of Life Magazine in 1955.
There are numerous examples of similar poses in that folder, as well as some curiosities: one photo with both hands on the same side of her head; a profile of her head, shot to resemble the sun at the moment of full eclipse; a full-length photo of her dressed in something which looks like a cannoli; and a photo of Katie Holmes (!) channeling GG (this last appeared in a special "style" (a/k/a "T Magazine") issue of the NY Times Magazine this past December).
Found most of these photos at one site, something called GarboForever. Pull down the "Gallery" menu there for what has to be the most comprehensive library of Garbo pix at one location. Whether this will overwhelm your fantasy sensors or simply engorge them, I can't say.
Well, thank you again, JES. I hadn't even looked for Garbo pictures this time, but those are some very useful resources.
It was the Garbo-esque portrait of Isabelle by Len Prince that I was hoping - and failing - to find, however.
Oh, dang. I got tangled up in your concluding sentence -- especially that post-semi-colon clause -- and managed to talk myself into believing the phrase "that one" referred to a particular shot of the real Garbo!
(Should've suspected something when keying in "greta garbo" to Google Images' search box got me a gazillion hits. Like, Hmm, Froog couldn't find these? But no, by that point my judgment was all shot to hell, under the influence of all those images of arched eyebrows, lips, and -- yes -- hands placed against the face.)
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