Wisdom for the New Year from Women

 

With the start of the new year comes that time-honoured tradition - New Year's resolutions, when we are strong in our resolve to make the new year better, more successful, more exciting. In wishing you an abundant 2013, I would like to share some inspiring words of wisdom from women who ruled Hollywood once upon a time.

"To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labour, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life.  The money is the gravy" - Bette Davis

"The river is constantly turning and bending and you never know where it's going to go and where you'll wind up. Following the bend in the river and staying on your own path means that you are on the right track.  Don't let anyone deter you from that" - Eartha Kitt

"I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped.  Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it." - Audrey Hepburn 

"I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be prooud of that." -Lauren Bacall

"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery.  Its better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe.  Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." - Sophia Loren

 

 

Best wishes - may 2013 be your best year yet!

Doreen Pfeiffer 

 

 

Helmut Newton

"My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain"

 Legs in stockings, Paris 1979

Helmut Newton (31 October 1920 – 23 January 2004) was a German-Australian prolific fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were widely published.

 

Catherine Deneuve, Paris 1979

Newton was born in Berlin and  attended the American School in Berlin. Interested in photography from the age of 12 when he purchased his first camera, he worked for the German photographer Yva (Elsie Neulander Simon)  from 1936. He settled in Paris in 1961 and worked as a fashion photographer.  His works appeared in magazines including French Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.  He established a particular style, marked by erotic, stylized scenes, often with sado-masochistic and fetishistic subtexts.

"I was lucky to have my wife as the art director, and it turned out to be quite something - a great success"

In his later life, Newton lived in both Monte Carlo and Los Angeles.  He was in an accident on 23 January 2004, when his car sped out of control and hit a wall in the driveway of the Chateau Marmont  which had for several years served as his residence in Southern California.  His ashes are buried next to Marlene Dietrich at the Stadtischer Friedhoff III  in Berlin.

Lauren Bacall

"A woman isn't complete without a man.  But where do you find a man - a real man - these days?" - Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall was barely 20 when she starred in her first film To Have and Have Not (1944) with Humphrey Bogart, whom she married soon after.

She reportedly practiced for months to get her voice at that low, dusky pitch for the role.  It became her trademark and eventually became her day-in-day-out voice.

Memorable titles among her many movies include How to Marry a Millionaire with Marilyn Monroe, Harper with Paul Newman, The Shootist with John Wayne and Murder on the Orient Express with Sean Connery.

Bogart and Bacall both suffered from a mild vocal disorder that has been named for them, Bogart-Bacall Syndrome.  BBS is now the medical term for an ongoing hoarseness that often afflicts actors, singers or TV/radio voice workers who routinely speak in a very low pitch.

Shortly after Bogart's death in 1957, Bacall had a relationship with singer and actor Frank Sinatra, shown below. 

Lauren Bacall is still considered a fashion icon.

Do you have a best friend?

Best friends forever? if you have a very close bond with one friend, you are very lucky, according to researchers.

Here is why a very close friendship bond (not just a few "good friends") is so good for you ....

Experts from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre says it may not be so great for your health to just have just lots of close girlfriends.

According to their research, people who have a true "best friend" have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in their bodies. Too  many stress hormones can make us feel unhappy and can also contribute to disease.

"One of the interesting things about these findings is that it's not just any friend, it's the best friend" - said the study's lead author.  Though the study looked at children, experts believe there could be some applications to adults, too.

Johnny Depp .... aaahhhh ..

Some Hollywood careers are built on smart choices.  Last year Johnny Depp earned $75 million - a wealth and fame he achieved by making some unusual choices in his career.

Born John Christopher Depp II on June 9, 1963 - he is an American actor, producer and musician.  

 

He gained fame at a young age and refused to take the obvious path.  After the TV show 21 Jump Street, he chose to work with offbeat directors like Tim Burton and John Waters, rather than become an action star. 

Johnny turned to more challenging roles such as the title character of Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

His insistence on making each role his own paid off with 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean when Depp created Captain Jack Sparrow's character to become as important to Disney as Peter Pan.  

Depp has been nominated for top awards many times, winning the Best Actor Awards from the Golden Globes for Sweeney Todd and from the Screen Actors Guild for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

He has been twice named as the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine in 2003 and 2009.  Depp has been listed in the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records as the highest paid actor, with $75 million. 

We just love having him in the gallery at all times!

A little bit about Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon's fashion and portrait photographs "helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last fifty years" - this according to an obituary published in The New York Times.

Avedon was always interested in how portraiture captures the personality and soul of its subject.  As his reputation as a photographer grew, he photographed many celebrities and politicians in his studio - Elizabeth Taylor, Buster Keaton, Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy and Andy Warhol, to name but a few.

His portraits are easily distinguished by their minimalist style, often the person is looking squarely in the camera, posed in front of a sheer white background. 

He would often bring up uncomfortable areas of discussion or ask psychologically probing questions, to evoke a reaction.  Through this technique he would produce images that revealed aspects of his subject's character and personality that were not typically captured by others.

Wenda Parkinson in Hyde Park in 1951

Henri Cartier-Bresson - the Godfather of Street photography

One of my favorite photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson is of this little boy carrying two bottles of wine under his arms, on Rue Mouffetard with the triumphant grin of a champion.  Henri Cartier-Bresson was a master at taking photos of children in their natural playful state, creating images that convey beautiful nostalgia to his viewers.

Children are great subjects to shoot when it comes to street photography - in that they don’t mind being in front of the camera, and often ignore it. Therefore you are able to capture their true essence: playful, curious, and often mischievous.

When Henri Cartier-Bresson would talk about “The Decisive Moment” he said sometimes it would be spontaneous but others times he had to be patient and wait for it. Regardless he was very methodological when he would go out and shoot, and would only keep his images if every element of his image (people, background, framing, and composition) were perfect.

When he shot on the streets, he would stay as low-key and unobtrusive as possible. It is reported that he would cover his chrome Leica in black tape and  sometimes with a hankerchief to make it less noticeable when he was out shooting.  Most of the images that he captured his subjects were oblivious of the camera, therefore truly candid.

Although Cartier-Bresson shot with several different lenses while on-assignment working for Magnum, he would only shoot with a 50mm if he was shooting for himself. By being faithful to that lens for decades, the camera truly became “an extension of his eye”.