This photograph is a more recent Vanity Fair portrait that I have chosen. It was shot in 1996 by David LaChapelle and is of the American Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway. I think the arrangement and composition of this photograph is quite eye catching and well executed. Even though the image seems busy and chaotic the viewer's attention is still drawn to the actress, also everybody in the crowd appear to be reaching out towards her and I think this is really effective. This also helps to give the viewer a sense of who the figure is, as well as the Academy Award statue and the police in the bottom of the image.
From the way she is lying on the car Faye Dunaway seems to be embracing the attention of everybody, this tells us that perhaps celebrity life has not completely overwhelmed her. By her facial expression and body language it seems that she may be a fairly carefree person and now she does not let the celebrity life bother her anymore. This photograph shows the celebrity side of Faye Dunaway, but it does show to some extent what she is like as a person.
Because celebrities have portrayed so many different characters to us, I think that sometimes it makes it hard to see them as themselves when viewing celebrity portraits. There are also many factors to consider when viewing a celebrity portrait such as; what environment they have been shot in, whether it is their own home or a studio, along with props and how they are positioned.
I have chosen this portrait of actor John Barrymore by Edward Steichen as I think it is a celebrity portrait that shows the actor being himself rather than one of his characters. This portrait has a simple compostition compared to David LaChapelle's portrait but I think it is still a stong image. John Barrymore's pose is strong and shows what sort of persona he has which I think is noble and modest. The fact that he is looking away from the camera also gives the photograph a sense of mystery and causes the viewer to wonder what he is thinking about. The lighting choices are also very effective, how the sunlight is falling on his chest makes the portrait quite magestic.
These two portraits are really diverse, the eariler black and white portrait of John Barrymore is quite simple but still shows a lot of information about the subject, while the portrait of Faye Dunaway is quite engaging and eye-catching, while still managing to tell a lot about the actress. Both portraits are also very different in the way they portray the two celebrity subjects.
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