I used to have a subscription to Vanity Fair. When I first started reading it, VF embodied everything that I felt a magazine should be--interesting, informative, and, from time to time, a bit irreverent. Over time, I found that shifts in subject matter were being made, and that the resulting upper-crust scandal-page articles were not to my liking. However, one aspect of the magazine continued to impress me: the photography.
And how could it not? VF employs only the very best photographers available, and they contribute stellar images. In fact, the current editors saw fit to issue a compendium of some of these images--all portraits--in the 2008 coffee table book Vanity Fair: The Portraits: A Century of Iconic Images. Unlike the last coffee table book I covered, I do own a copy of The Portraits, thanks to my mother, who was good enough to buy me a copy (without any prompting) two Christmases ago.
The book is, in a word, stunning. The wide variety of subjects (men and women, actors and politicians, black-and-white and color pieces, and so on) makes for a dynamic viewing experience, as does the sheer number of photographs included. By far my favorite is a shot of Lance Armstrong, completely nude, on his bicycle in the pounding rain, shot by Annie Leibovitz, a frequent contributor to the magazine. But each picture included truly does tell its own story, some uplifting, some heartbreaking, each completely indelible.
Buy through Barnes and Noble for $43.87.
-Cate-
And how could it not? VF employs only the very best photographers available, and they contribute stellar images. In fact, the current editors saw fit to issue a compendium of some of these images--all portraits--in the 2008 coffee table book Vanity Fair: The Portraits: A Century of Iconic Images. Unlike the last coffee table book I covered, I do own a copy of The Portraits, thanks to my mother, who was good enough to buy me a copy (without any prompting) two Christmases ago.
The book is, in a word, stunning. The wide variety of subjects (men and women, actors and politicians, black-and-white and color pieces, and so on) makes for a dynamic viewing experience, as does the sheer number of photographs included. By far my favorite is a shot of Lance Armstrong, completely nude, on his bicycle in the pounding rain, shot by Annie Leibovitz, a frequent contributor to the magazine. But each picture included truly does tell its own story, some uplifting, some heartbreaking, each completely indelible.
Buy through Barnes and Noble for $43.87.
-Cate-
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