Photographer Johnny Rozsa Wants You To Look But Don’t Touch

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These days, the celebrity image is simply made up of obnoxious excess – too much exposure, too much influence + too much plastic surgery.   To best capture this excess in a photograph while obliterating every flaw, before Photoshop, before digital cameras + before publicists, a lot of the shots were ‘airbrushed’ or retouched at best.  Yet, the eccentric + animated celebrity photographer Johnny Rozsa, dealt with his celebrity subjects by using an honest, raw + ‘make no apologies’ approach, a lot of which can be seen in his aptly titled book, ‘Untouched by Johnny Rozsa’, published by Glitterati Incorporated.

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Amanda Lapore

In it’s second circulation through Glitterati Incorporated, Rozsa’s book could not come at a better time + be more relevant in the age of #selfies + instagram, where re-touching is only accomplished through filters + various apps.  For Johnny, everything is plasticized, saying ‘ Skin does not have to have pores + breathe.  Erasing a ‘flaw’ is a snap!’, just by a few clicks of a mouse.’  True, Johnny agrees it all has its place, but believes ‘our generation now depends on it + on the knife, + this dependence makes everything that we view too sanitized, too homogenized.’ 

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Manolo Blahnik, Tilda Swinton

Containing a never before seen collection of 160 ‘untouched portraits’, spanning thirty years, Rozsa gives us an intimate peek at some of Hollywood’s best.  Although a lot of the photographs were shot on set, some were on location.  Many of the celebrity portraits, including Halle Berry, Jade Jagger + Carmen Electra, were all shot before they became household names.

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But there’s a lot to be said about a picture that has so little going on as far as staying true to the façade of the celebrity.  Take this picture of Susan Sarandon (below), for instance – As is, Susan looks beautiful + strong while

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simultaneously looking very soft, sexy + playful.  Had Photoshop stepped in, stripping away the slight lines around her eyes + neck, she would still look good minus authenticity.  There’s just something about a photo that gives you that immediacy of intimacy of its live subject, suspended in time without a single hair being touched.  For Rozsa, a photograph is like a blink adding, ‘ It lasts for a fraction of a second + yet a portrait can capture a whole story.’  Overall, Johnny Rozsa is just living proof that a picture is as good as it’s photographer, without all the digital smoke + mirrors.

For your very own copy of ‘Untouched by Johnny Rozsa’, published by Glitterati Incorporated, go to http://glitteratiincorporated.com for purchase.

Here’s Hundred Waters with their video for track ‘Murmurs’ from their album ‘The Moon Rang Like A Bell’.  The video’s concept-nothing.  You just have a bunch of construction workers working on nothing at an unfinished home.  Love the way the song begins with singer Nicole Miglis repeating ‘I wish you, I wish you, I wish you…..’

I could easily envision this track playing for a slow motion scene of someone crashing into water, seeing glass shatter or a person seeing themselves in the mirror + not liking what they see, making them smash the mirror with their head or fists. 

Enjoy!

(via pitchfork)

Sia’s performance of ‘Chandelier’ on ‘Ellen’, where she sang with her back to the audience, along with the talented Maddie Ziegler from her video, was genius.  But her performance on last night’s ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’ was just as amazing but in a different way (above).  

This performance was still very conceptual yet this time, our gal Sia brought along none other than Lena Dunham of GIRLS, dressed up as her in a platinum blond wig, in a white suit, shirt + shoes – a great look for Dunham.  Flashes of enthusiasm take over the actress as she dances with cardboard cutouts + toilet paper, later to snuggle in bed with the singer.  And if you look closely, Sia, laying face down on the bed, is clearly singing, as you see her back moving up + down with every note.

I’m envisioning lots of ‘Sias’ for Halloween this year, right?

Enjoy!

(via pitchfork)

Ralph Steadman: For No Good Reason on Nowness.com

If you’re one of the lucky few that can see a landscape or anything period, in a splatter of ink or paint + extend it’s interpretation even further by a line here or a swish there, then you’ll appreciate this excerpt from documentary ‘No Good Reason’ by Charles Paul.  Here you get to see writer Hunter S. Thompson’s Go-To Cartoonist Ralph Steadman explain to Johnny Depp what his creative method is.  Simply put, Steadman says, ‘Slapping a blot down as I begin stimulates the mind to guess + be inventive’.

Steadman best known for his ink-splattered imagery for Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 novel ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, is thoroughly dissected by filmmaker Paul in this doc covering over four decades of his work ranging from books on Leonardo da Vinci, Sigmund Freud + birds, to commissions from Ted Hughes.  It’s great seeing the illustrator create something before our eyes, to finally see the grotesque end result.  Steadman’s style has always reminded me a lot of Francis Bacon’s work, particularly his ‘Meat’ paintings – although it’s full of disturbing imagery, there is still a kind of beauty that comes through quite powerfully.

Paul explains to NOWNESS how Steadman’s work is very deceiving about the artist.  Paul says, ‘On paper, Ralph seemed violent + dangerous, yet in person he is one of the warmest and most generous people I have ever met.’  A film that spans 16years in the making, features Johnny Depp as the perfect narrator, having had a long standing relationship with Steadman, after crossing paths through Thompson.  ’Johnny instinctively knew what to ask Ralph about. A chemistry existed between them, making it a natural dynamic to film, ” says Paul.  And how great is the end of the excerpt, showing the artist’s signature – perfect film still right there?!

Enjoy!

(via NOWNESS)

The Night I Met Lauren Hutton

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In mid-May, I attended ‘Fashion Icons: Lauren Hutton in Conversation with Fern Mallis’ at the 92Y + was extra excited.  Mind you, Lauren, the iconic model + actress, is the woman that’s had me wishing for front-gapped teeth since I was little.  Not even sticking spinach purposely between my front teeth could replicate her smile.  I, however, had to settle for buck teeth that reached down to my chin I went from a retainer to braces.  But enough about me.

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Now, as excited as I was to hear more about Lauren, I knew I was in for a good show since Fern always knows how to ask the right questions.  Usually, she lets us cozy up with her celebrity guest, as she takes us all down memory lane.  No matter how personal yet non-threatening the questions are, her guests usually comply willingly, but Lauren, she was having none of that.

When she came out, wearing a short curly hair cut, a red + white vertically striped shirt under a navy blazer, relaxed jeans + her signature white kicks.  Along with little to no makeup, she lived up to her reputation as a stylish preppy.  In admitting to being 70, my jaw dropped so far down, my neighbor tripped over it when she needed to get out + to use the ladies room – Lauren looks that good!

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Now, Hutton changed the program around, dismissing any real structure + turning it into a one-woman show.  I never knew how funny, candid + animated she was.  Of the things I learned about Lauren, I will recount, but in no particular order:

  • Lauren grew up poor, in Florida, where she learned how to wrestle gators + catch snakes.  
  • Two things brought Hutton to New York-traveling to Africa + LSD.  And at the rate she was going, I think Fern needed some LSD to keep up with her. 
  • Lauren credits Richard Avedon with putting her on the map.  Avendon called her ‘the link between the dream + the drugstore. She’s the girl next door, but she moved away.’

At one point, she complains about the extreme brightness of the overhead lights + puts her hand on her forehead hoping to see the audience better.  Lauren compared the bright lights to those used in interrogations + motioned to her shirt + said that her stripes would then have to be horizontal, like an inmate’s, which resulted in a huge laugh from the audience.

  • As a Playboy Bunny, if you were ‘stacked’, as Gloria Steinem was, you were a Night Bunny but she wasn’t so Lauren was a Day Bunny.  Apparently, the Night Bunnies never talked to the Day Bunnies.

There were two times where Lauren proceeded to suck her thumb, but for a split second – maybe that’s why she kept asking if she could smoke on stage.  Fern said no + Lauren then asked if she had at least something to suck on.  We ate it all up + couldn’t stop laughing.

  • If Lauren has had any loves, a big one would have to be is Africa – she would often leave for two months at a time.

In the end, Fern barely said much + next thing you know, two hours went by.  Hanging on Lauren’s every word, just waiting for the next punchline, made time unimportant.  Normally, my butt would’ve fallen asleep after sitting that long, but in laughing so hard + so much, it was absolutely painless + worth it!

Lauren is currently working on ‘Smile’, her memoir.  I’m sure that’ll be a juicy read!

(photos: Brigitte Lacombe, Mariano Vivianco, Mikael Jannsson, Richard Avendon, Mario Testino, Andrea Blanch)