Annie Leibovitz Inspired by Nordic Sagas, Slavic Folklore & The Snow Queen for Fashion Shoot

Annie Leibovitz is well associated with fairy tale themed shoots, so much so she is the official photographer-on-call for the Disney Theme Park shoots (which are live action interpretations of a scene from the animated movies). While those shoots are often very creative and do bring some surprises, I always find it most interesting when she steps outside the Disney properties and works with folk and fairy tales for fashion (often for Vogue).

Drew Barrymore's Beauty and the Beast shoot wasn't a Disney shoot, and you can see a lot of 'thinking outside the mold' in that one, which is wonderful. Keira Knightly's Wizard of Oz shoot remains striking, as does her Alice fashion photography with super model, Natalia Vodyanova.

This campaign was for a company called Moncler and shot in the stunning Icelandic landscape with two up-and-comers on the model scene, a Mormon brother and sister duo from Utah. For this shoot, touting the stylish warmth of this company's clothing, the Snow Queen makes an appearance. I'm always fascinated by how this character is interpreted when it comes to fashion but I have to say, I expected something a little more land-based (as in using the landscape forms of Iceland) rather than something that reminded me of the White Queen from Narnia (which I like better), still they're nice storytelling photos.

One Spanish website (Totumrevolutum) explains the concept of the shoot by summarizing the fairy tale:

"The Snow Queen" (Snedronningen) is a fantasy novel written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1845, which tells of the struggle between good and evil experienced by two children, Kay and Gerda.

And from a report discussing the shoot, via the Daily Mail:

The stunning images show Lucky and Pyper keeping warm in a range of Moncler's signature quilted outerwear, while navigating the rugged landscapes, from colossal ice formations to wind-sculpted rocks. 

Annie Leibovitz directs Lucky in a frozen woodland as he is captured by the Snow Queen

The Moncler campaign was apparently inspired by 'Nordic sagas and traditional Russian and Slavic folklore' - here Lucky encounters the Snow Queen on his travels.

You can see more photos from the shoot HERE, as well as more behind-the-scenes pics too, which I think are completely worth the click-through, just to see the incredible landscape.

Annie Leibovitz's "The Red Shoes"

Dancing Days

 

A trained ballerina, Adams stars here in a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes,with her Big Eyes director, Tim Burton, as the cobbler whose shoes ensorcell a young girl.(Note, he appears to be making her new feet...)

This December 2014 fairy tale photoshoot for Vogue was quite the surprise to many geek and pop culture writers online. Here we have Tim Burton as the Puppet Master and Amy Adams as Karen, giving you an insight into their film Big Eyes. I'm thinking this is because they weren't initially familiar with Andersen's "The Red Shoes", looked up the plot on Wikipedia and flipped out over the gruesome. Annie Leibovitz's fairy tale shoot sensibilities tend to lean heavily toward the happily ever after, Disney branding (after all, she is THE Dream Parks fairy tale campaign photographer), but this is... not that. 

It does, however, pay great homage to the classic (and wonderful) film The Red Shoes, the connection of which I'm sad to say seems to have been lost on most commenting on the images online. It also means that the opportunity of paralleling the trials, addictions, self-destructive/crippling mentality, tragedies and, yes, also transcendence that can occur in the life of true artists, has been lost on them too, not to mention the fact that this held true, in many ways, for Andersen himself.

The Puppet Master - Yes Amy Adams really is en pointe here

Citing Andersen's true-life inspiration for his fairy tale The Red Shoes, it's easy to see how he saw the incident as a graphic metaphor, and one that certainly would have been very impressionable (especially when you consider that leather is actually skin...): 

Andersen explained the origins of the story in an incident he witnessed as a small child. By his report, his father was sent a piece of red silk by a rich lady customer, to make a pair of dancing slippers for her daughter. Using red leather along with the silk, he worked very carefully on the shoes, only to have the rich lady tell him they were trash. She said he had done nothing but spoil her silk. "In that case," he said, "I may as well spoil my leather too," and he cut up the shoes in front of her. (Wikipedia)

Big Eyes, the story of the real-life (and still living) artist Margaret Keane, (film directed by Burton with Adams as Margaret herself) has received quite a bit of criticism for its bleakness (and possibly lack-of-typical-Burton-ness). Leibovitz's promotional photo shoot, however, gives color (as in, emotional texture as well as on the light spectrum) to an otherwise drab-looking movie and finishes it on a more positive and impacting image than the movie is reported to do, as you can see below. (Not having seen it personally, I'm told we have 'positive resolution' mainly in the form of text on the screen, letting us know how things turned out well in the real world, but no lasting visual impression of this from the film itself).

Wings of Desire

 

The magic shoes bring the dancing girl to a cliff, where she is transformed into a bird. Leibovitz looked to Barbara Bazilian’s 1997 retelling* (see synopsis at end of post) of Andersen’s fairy tale. Alexander McQueen ivory ostrich-feather dress. 

Big Eyes is still showing in my local theaters but it's not one I'm in a hurry to see. I might have been interested, however, if The Red Shoes, was the vehicle, or touchstone, that Burton used to tell poor Mrs. Margaret Keane's story, because the parallel works quite well. 

As it is, though, this is as close to fairy tale as that film is going to get. A pity really, since much of the unique (at that time) big-eyed art, would be a great doorway into the fairy tale soul of this story, complete with all its heartache and triumph. 

-sigh- I think it's time to watch The Red Shoes again.

Léonide Massin as the Grischa Ljubov/The Cobbler and Moira Shearer as Vicky Page/Karen
in the classic and filmmaker favorite film, The Red Shoes

Additional sources: here and here

* Synopsis on the 1997 Bazilian retelling from School library Journal: The only elements of Andersen's story that Bazilian retains here are the name of the heroine and the coveted red shoes. Karen saves her spending money to purchase the shoes, and the shoemaker warns her to be careful about what she wishes. She dances brilliantly in the shoes but is troubled that it is increasingly difficult to remove them. Finally, after the ball where she dances all night, she cannot remove them, and she cannot stop dancing. Exhausted and frightened, Karen approaches a cliff and wishes to become a bird. Her wish is granted, and when she returns to her grandmother, she repents her vanity and is restored.

Fairy Tale Fashion Shoot Retrospective: Annie Leibovitz & Grace Coddington's Wizard Of Oz

I have a very busy week this week so if I end up missing a bit of news, don't worry, it's only temporary! In the meantime, here's something I've had in my archive files for ages and never posted, but seeing as MGM's The Wizard Of Oz is having it's 75th anniversary is this year, and so much is happening on the Oz theme, I didn't think people would mind a little retro post.

It's a Twister

(with Actress Alba Clemente as Auntie Em and her husband,
Painter Francesco Clemente, as Uncle Henry)

"I love our December issues. We always mark the holidays with a fantastic, and fantastical, fashion portfolio; and this year Creative Director Grace Coddington has conspired with Annie Leibovitz to produce a stunningly dramatic spin on the Wizard of Oz. The project began in the summer, when Grace was captivated by the idea of a very specific look -- in her words, "Bonpoint for grown-ups" -- on the lovely Kiera Knightley. Grace got going, as tends to: instructing our top designers to make sweet Empire dresses that transitioned from nursery to cocktail; persuading artists such as Jasper Johns and Chuck Close to take part in the photographic pantomime."
- Anna Wintour's Letter from the Editor, December 2005 

Munchkinland
(with Artist Kara Walker as Glinda the Good Witch
& the Penn State Marching Band)

Here, photographed by the always amazing Annie Leibovitz, is Keira Knightley in the role of Dorothy in various iconic scenes from The Wizard of Oz for December 2005 issue of Vogue Magazine.

If I Only Had a Brain
(with Painter Brice Marden as the Scarecrow)

Oil Me, Please

(with Painter John Currin as the Tin Man)

Oh, My!
(with Sculptor Jasper Johns as the Cowardly Lion)

I had collected them all to post together at some point, as most blogs and articles didn't seem to have the whole collection, but "news of the moment" just keeps happening with fairy tales these days (yay!) and I never got around to it.

Emerald City

(The Lion, Dorothy, The Tin Man, and The Scarecrow)

The Wonderful Things He Does
(with Painter and Photographer Chuck Close as the Wizard)

I wish I had some interview notes from Ms. Knightley or Ms. Leibovitz on the shoot, but in the absence of that, I've included a very short (and sadly low quality) video below, but I've also researched a little and included the supporting cast names and where they hail from to give you an idea of how wonderful a shoot this really is.

I'll Get You My Pretty

(with Artist Jeff Koons as the Winged Monkey)

Ding Dong!

(with Artist Kiki Smith as The Wicked Witch of the West)

It's nice to have it up for this year, though I think.

Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops

(Dorothy, Auntie Em, Uncle Henry)

Here's the quick behind-the-scene video:

From one blog entry (of many!) devoted to the amazing fashion shoot, this writer encapsulated what it was about this shoot that was so incredible at the time. It's not just the styling but just how many artists were involved (emphasis in bold is mine):

The Annie Leibovitz treatment of the L. Frank Baum novel turned film has never been so in vogue as when it appeared in the December 2005 issue of “Vogue.” This portfolio rocked the world and especially the “Art World.” Leibovitz is famous for her photo spreads and celebrity portraits but it is rare to almost non-existent for “A-List” artistic luminaries to be featured as stars in such a mass media venue. All the stops were pulled out for this one as Annie; such a prolific and passionate professional scores big.

Hope you enjoyed the little look back to 2005.  (I have to say, the white rose pattern on the white dress in the twister photos is just stunning.)

What are your favorite reinterpretations of Oz?

Note: the photo above was for the cover. As lovely as freesias are, I only wish it had been shot in one of California's famous poppy fields during spring to make the entire shoot perfect.

Behind the Disney Brave Shoot

This would be my favorite unofficial photo for composition & lighting

A little bonus because I know there's a whole lot of you (us) who like seeing these things: here are some lovely behind-the-scenes photos that appeared the day after Jessica Chastain's Merida was released into the internet-wilds.

To remind you, here's the official pic (looks like the color is bumped up in this one but it works - that hair is definitely Merida-red now!):

And here are the other behind-the-scenes shots (my favorite is at the head of the post, but you probably read that).

                    

 

                     

Apart from the cars in the background ruining it somewhat, this is my favorite "most natural Merida & Angus".
Jessica most embodies the Merida spirit here & check the horses' ears & eyeline: he likes her!
(So now I like her even more)

Did you notice the horse got a little photoshopping of his own re the markings and the high gloss? I know he had to match Angus but still... seems a crime that such a beautiful animal should need his image altered. But when you see things like this, and also like Jessica rehearsing on the plastic model, her boot stabilizing her position by being on a concrete block, you realize how much more amazing it is when stories - and real life - have these elements in them - without the props and extra touches. (Hollywood's fairy godmothers have to work pretty hard to get their fairy tales just "so"!)

So what does this have to do with anything in fairy tales? Very little - apart from reminding you that Brave and Scottish tales are back in the public mind and eye.

Therefore, you will now be returned to your regularly scheduled programming.

"Where Your Destiny Awaits" by Annie Leibovitz

And here she is: Jessica Chastain as Merida for the Disney Dream Portraits series for Disney Parks, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

I did a quick search to track down what movie-Merida looked like doing mounted archery and found these reference images:

Then I discovered there's already a real life Merida who does the real thing. She's a professional stunt woman and archery coordinator who specializes in recurve, compound, longbow, crossbow, barebow, horsebow and mounted archery. (Phew!) Her name is Virginia Hankins, she looks like this (yes, that's her own hair). and she's had no shortage of work since Brave.

She's also a free diver and does movie stunt work as a mermaid (see below). The woman is like a walking fairy tale heroine! (Can I be her when I grow up??)

But I digress..

As per usual, I got to wondering about stories with mounted archers and wondered where in the world they might make a regular appearance. Turns out Russian hunters used mounted archery a lot, Iranian peoples specialized (still do), Native Americans (both Northern and Southern), Mongols and Turks but it became a particularly honored tradition among the Samurai (called Yabusame). While it's on the rise again in European countries, including Britain, the Scots weren't listed among the world's fiercest in horse archery warfare in history as Japan and Iran were. Though they did use this technique, as the majority of ancient hunters with regular access to horses did, it doesn't seem they practiced specialized training as much.

Here's a photo of a modern female mounted archer from Oregon, Katie Stearns, with her horse, Magic, painted to match her own costume. I kind of love that she studied anthropology before going into her horse training full time.

Katie Stearns aka Morwen or The Flying Dutchess

While I haven't had time to do any serious research, there are quite a few fairy tales in which archery features, though not usually as the main feature. Robin Hood's legend grew up around his skill, of course, but the Firebird centers on 'the king's archer' who comes across a fiery feather, and there are some Japanese tales that feature archers as well.

Behind-the-scenes of "Where Your Destiny Awaits" shoot

But back to the reason for the post: what do you think of the official new Merida?

New Addition to Annie Leibovitz's Disney Dream Portrait Series: Jessica Chastain as Merida

You knew it was only a matter of time but there have been so many excellent cosplays of Merida since Brave hit the big screen that Ms. Leibovitz actually has quite a challenge on her hands to top them!

ET released a behind the scenes video on Wednesday afternoon:

Jessica Chastain isn't quite who I would have chosen since she looks far more fragile to me than Merida should but I have no doubt the results will looks stunning no matter what. We should see the photo some time today...

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite cosplay pics for Merida. Yes, there are a lot  - and I applaud the creativity and attention to detail of each girl (and team) that put these images together - it's kind of wonderful - and since I can't think of a time when I might show these again I'm putting them all here. Enjoy:

Aeriat

Shua-cosplay

Ida Sofie aka. Starbit Cosplay

Monique Duke

Monique Duke

Shua-cosplay

Pugoffka

GreatQueenLina

Re-Aska

AlexanderNVIDIA

shua-cosplay

Re-Aska

MikiLavi

MikiLavi

MikiLavi

AlexanderNVIDIA

Tathariel Creations