THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
5th JUNE — 30 AUGUST 2009

A Canberra winter can get as cold as Joan Crawford’s parenting skills, and with the temperature already dropping well below zero, what exactly do we have to warm the cockles over these chilly winter months?

Well, thankfully the National Portrait Gallery have the perfect winter remedy in store:  An exhibition of Vanity Fair photography spanning almost a century, from 1913 through to 2008.  In gay circles the word ‘fabulous’ has become a bit of an overused cliché, but this exhibition is nothing if not fabulous!

The touring exhibition consists of 150 pieces of some of the most fascinating and memorable photographic works ever brought together under the one roof.  Having travelled from the London Portrait Gallery, through to Edinburgh and Los Angeles, this once in a lifetime exhibit stops here in our Nation’s Capital from 5 June until 30 August and features a variety of sensational cover photos, as well as photographic essays from inside the magazine’s pages.

The magazine, of course, has a vast history and a well-earned notoriety as one of the most successful, recognisable publications of all time. It has become a name synonymous with style and glamour, without ever having to compromise its editorial content or its credibility.  In earlier days of Vanity Fair’s inception, photography wasn’t considered the leading art form, or the most suitable design concept for a regular editorial.

But according to Michael Desmond, the National Portrait Gallery’s Head Curator, the publishers of Vanity Fair made a conscious decision to bring together the best photographers of the time and to bring a particular emphasis to photography as an art form, something that makes an exhibit of this nature so captivating.

“It was a combination of superb writers and outstanding photographers that’s made the Vanity Fair output so enduring.  It’s a history
of photography in the stories told and the names that they’ve used.”

And what a list of names.  Edward Steichen and Anton Bruehl, both considered among the most accomplished pictorial photo artists of the early 20th century, are featured prominently; Steichen perhaps best known for the iconic Greta Garbo portraiture that has become as well-documented as the woman herself.  Camp old Cecil Beaton, who famously designed Audrey Hepburn’s costumes for My Fair Lady and was THE British society photographer throughout his incredible career, is also a major inclusion. 

According to Desmond it’s these earlier works that people are likely to find most intriguing, admitting that there is in fact, “a real buzz in seeing the vintage photos and realising what a strong photographic history we have in this collection.  It’s interesting who is represented in that early 1920s-30s period; poets, scientists, inventors, dancers, choreographers.  There seems to be a broader analysis of culture than there is now.”

Hard to believe, but Vanity Fair actually stopped production in 1936 and for more than fifty years remained out of circulation after Conde Nast, the publishing house responsible for the magazine, made a decision during the Depression to focus their energies on Vogue instead.  It was 1983 when publishing magnate Si Newhouse decided the time was right to reinvent the magazine and return Vanity Fair to its former glory.

It’s probably no coincidence the decision came at this time, the heady 1980s, corresponding with the excesses and indulgent behaviours quintessential to what was happening in that period of history.

As the world watched fascinated in the wake of industrialism and post-industrialism through those early decades of the 1900s, similarly the post-modern cult of celebrity and the fascination with the people we love to desire provided a perfect opportunity for Vanity Fair to once again report and record the transformations within our society — and all in a glossy ‘8 by 10’ package.

The list of photographed subjects from this later period of the magazine’s existence read like a veritable who’s who of celebrity culture: Meryl Streep, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Nicole Kidman, Britney Spears, Princess Diana.  And again, the artists from this second era, such as Annie Leibovitz, Bruce Weber and Mario Testino, are some of the legendary photographic names whose work helped Vanity Fair to become the centrepiece of style it’s regarded as today.

And so what does the Head Curator recommend as his personal highlight?  “There is a shot of Madonna by Mario Testino.  It’s just so incredibly glamorous, a knockout image.  But there are so many really strong photos it’s hard to single out just one.”

A number of infamous moments in time are well represented: the Demi Moore picture, taken eight months into her pregnancy, a moment that completely turned people’s ideas about the celebrity baby bump that is now so prominent in tabloids worldwide; a shot of Frida Kahlo with Diago Riviera in which he is the star and she is merely the star-in-waiting; a young Heath Ledger as captured by Bruce Weber during the promotion for A Knight’s Tale, just prior to being catapulted to fame and misfortune.

The most fabulous thing about this kind of exhibition is how accessible and relevant it is to a wider public.  It’s not a niche category where expertise in a specific art form or artist is necessarily required — almost all of us can appreciate its style or content.  Vanity Fair is an institution, ingrained in the consciousness of most of us, and these photos are glamorous and unattainable, whilst at the same time being a part of our own knowledge and experience. They are private glimpses into public property, and a history and reflection of the popular culture that we’ve all bared witness to at some stage during our lives. 

Get out of the cold, people, and get into the National Portrait Gallery.  Fabulous!

5th JUNE — 30 AUGUST 2009

www.portrait.gov.au