The March Issue of Vanity Fair is the annual Hollywood issue. Many Annie Leibovitz pictures, nicely done.
Also included is a series of portraits by Chuck Close. Here are the instructions that he sent each of the subjects:
- Arrive alone or with one close friend or associate.
- Be available for three hours
- Be responsible for your own look- no styling or hair or makeup.
- You will be supplied with coffee and deli sandwiches- nothing fancy will be served.
I like the first and fourth points- it is a photo shoot not a social gathering. Not so sure about number two- it is the same setup, with a 20×24 polaroid camera, so it shouldn’t take three hours
Number three is a problem for me. The men (Dustin Hoffman, Stephen Spielberg, Harrison Ford all look ruggedly handsome and at ease.
The women, among them Oprah Winfrey, Bette Midler and Julia Roberts, all look uncomfortable and ill at ease. I know from personal experience that Oprah puts on makeup to go to the drugstore! So why put these women through such a harrowing experience? Is Mr. Close trying to show his superiority over them? Is he saying “if you don’t like it you don’t have to be in Vanity Fair”? Seems a little overbearing to me.
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, there is an article about a New York state based punk band called Perfect Pussy. It describes their show as such:
When the sign outside your local club reads Perfect Pussy:900PM, do not show up at 9:16!
“If you can’t do everything you need to do in 15 minutes, you are probably overthinking it,” says singer Meredith Graves.
So…… later in the magazine, there is a review of the bands new CD. Here is a quote from the review: Say Yes to Love is a heart punch of an album- 8 songs, 23 minutes
Guess they needed more than 15 minutes to say what they wanted to say!!