Vanity Fair: The Portraits: A Century Of Iconic Images Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Vanity Fair: The Portraits brings together 300 iconic portraits from Vanity Fair’s 95-year history in a remarkable book that captures the image of modern fame—the magical thing that happens when individual talent and beauty (and sometimes genius) is caught in the spotlight of popular curiosity and passion. The photographers—from Edward Steichen and Cecil Beaton to Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino—are a glittering and celebrated group themselves. Their portraits have become the iconic likenesses of the best-known figures from the worlds of art, film, music, sports, business, and politics. From legends such as Pablo Picasso, Amelia Earhart, Cary Grant, and Katharine Hepburn to the stars, writers, athletes, style icons, and titans of business and politics of today, Vanity Fair: The Portraits offers an authoritative roster of talent and glamour in the 20th century.
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 1 edition (September 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0810972980
ISBN-13: 978-0810972988
Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 1.5 x 13.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #210,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #242 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions #242 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Portraits #262 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Photojournalism & Essays > Photo Essays
Few books published survey the fascinating moments of the 20th century the way VANITY FAIR PORTRAITS: A CENTURY OF ICONIC IMAGES does. This hefty, handsome volume contains the photographic works of some of the world's most important photographers whose images have graced the pages to Vanity Fair in the two periods of its publication - the beginning and the ending of the 20th century. This is a photographic collection that gives generous full page (and at time double page ) spreads of brilliant photographs by artists who gained permission to enter the lives of movie starts, artists, writers, government personalities, royalty, stage personas, the wealthy and the significant poor - they are all here in both lush color and black and white reproductions.Not only is it fascinating to leaf through the 300 odd photographs of this book, but it is also rewarding to read the several introductory notes and essays by Graydon Carter, David Friend, and Christopher Hitchens - each of whom lends appreciation for not only the publication that influenced art and fashion and politics and world affairs, but also gave readers a tasteful and solidly informative way to view the world as the characters displayed here influenced our times. This is a collection of art and history married in a way that allows the reader time and contrasts to re-live the past and appreciate the developments that graced the years from 1900 to 2000. Well worth the price! Grady Harp, October 08
Although I purchased this book as a gift, I did get the chance to look through it as well. This is a gorgeous coffee-table book that is a fine addition to anyone's collection. Amazing photographs from the last century. Once you pick it up, it's hard not to look through the entire thing at least once. Fabulous book!
If you're into portrait photography, this is a great book covering some well known portraits, and a wide range of style, time, and people. I went through the book several times 'earmarking' portraits for lighting style, posing, and/or composition that I find inspirational.My copy of the book had several pages though where the ink of one page had worn off onto another page, which was most annoying.
I am a semi-pro photographer and am always on the lookout for inspiration, so when i saw this on the shelf, I had to pick it up. 10 or 15 pages in, I was hooked. I had to buy it.The images in this book are incredible, but the foreward the and way the images are arranged just makes reading through that much more fun.The book is for everyone really, with celebrities photos starting around 1913. It is really an ode to our time in pictures.I would recommend this book to everyone and am happy I purchased it.
My daughter-in-law requested this book for her coffee table. It was a bonus to get it at half price from and in very good condition! She loves looking through it and of course it is often a conversation piece when company comes.
Hitchens writes a great essay introducing these portraits. The portraits themselves vary in quality. Hands down, the very best ones are the ones done by the great masters earlier in the twentieth century in black and white, especially by Steichen. Of the later photographs, the ones done by Bruce Weber are my favorites along with Ritts, Tesino and others. I think the weakest photos, the ones that will probably not make it as serious art for being overly gimmicky, are Annie Lebovitz's. She makes a great eye catching magazine cover but she does not make ANY portrait that would even give someone like Steichen, were he alive, a moment's worry. Also included are some old Vanity Fair illustrated covers and these were quite gorgeous too. Nowadays this kind of cover could probably not sell a magazine but it's too bad as they were all wonderful works of art. In short, there's something for everyone in this huge collection of portraits. If you prefer very clever photos of present day celebs a lot, then this may be worth a full five stars for you. Those were the ones that took it down to four stars for me.Visit my blog with link given on my profile page here or use this phonetically given URL (livingasseniors dot blogspot dot com). Friday's entry will always be weekend entertainment recs from my 5 star reviews in film, tv, books and music. These are very heavy on buried treasures and hidden gems. My blogspot is published on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
I real "Coffee-Table-Book" in weight and format. Very true to its title: "A century of Iconic Images" it has a lot of wonderful pictures of mostly very well known people. The real difference is the photographers. You nearly know when a picture is by Annie Leibovitz. Nicely edited in graphics and layout. A book to browse from time to time, when you want to see some good photos.
I purchased this item used from a third party seller - Daily Deal. This is a very large, heavy book and it was not packaged sufficiently and did receive damage in shipping. Additionally, the invoice enclosed was $30 cheaper than what I was charged for it and they would not adjust the charges, claiming it was a mistake and to ignore the enclosed invoice and just use the amount that was billed on my credit card. All of the information on the invoice was correct, including my name and the book. I sent them another email stating that and they never responded. The content of the book is wonderful. If I could just rate the seller, however, I'm not sure if I would give them even one star.
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