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The inevitable likenesses are made to the beautiful Jean Shrimpton- Though she is most closely tied to photographer-David Bailey-these are my favorite shots of the model-photographed by Richard Avedon.
I have the Vogue April 15 1968 issue with Shrimpton on the cover -again- photographed by Avedon & it is absolutely gorgeous. "Heroines All- A romantic Charade Starring Jean Shrimpton" by Avedon features 8 pages of Shrimpton evoking great 18th century beauties like Lady Hamilton(as Nature), Princess Mary(as Diana), The Duchess of Cleveland(as Minerva), striking poses of these goddesses as painted by the likes of Romney, Lely, Reynolds & Cosway. The model, the subject both beautiful- but the photographer is the magician. Every aspect of this forty year old Vogue spread could insert itself right into a current issue and all the better I might add.
Shrimpton as Nike by Richard Avedon*
... ethereal, au courant.
so when I saw this- I immediately thought, This is Avedon. What do you think? The lighting, the strong resemblance to Jean Shrimpton.
It is in fact-actress Kasia Smutniak. Is the photographer Richard Burbridge? I couldn't discover- and that is unfortunate because the photograph is breathtaking. I haven't sampled the fragrance-but the photograph will no doubt sell many bottles. The photographs here by Burbridge in 2008 again capture a beauty that I see in Avedon's photography. Whoever- the photographer is certainly influenced by Richard Avedon.
I just saw a wonderful quote by Avedon at the Errant Aesthete's site (here)
“The ideal of beauty then
was the opposite of what it is now.
It stood for an extension
of the aristocratic view of women as ideals,
of women as dreams,
of women as almost surreal objects."
-AVEDON
It seems Giorgio Armani agrees-
“I have always carried with me an ideal of femininity – an irresistible combination of grace, beauty and independent spirit. IDOLE d’ARMANI is my tribute to this ideal, and to women everywhere.”
Whether right or wrong- It still seems to be this IDEAL Beauty Avedon describes that makes us think-
Ah Ha-"This is Beauty."
*from the 1968 Vogue April 15 issue
Read more about IDOLE here
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