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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Annie Liebovitz Edith Wharton Photo Series


“Love in the Afternoon” – Edith Wharton, Morton Fullerton, and Henry James

If you are readers of Vogue magazine you might have already seen this photo spread, but seeing as I was reviewing The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields this week, I wanted to share these beautiful photos by the ever amazing Annie Liebovitz.  All the photos are from the Vogue website.

“A Woman of Letters” – Edith and Anna Bahlmann

This spread features actors and actresses portraying Edith Wharton and her friends including: President Teddy Roosevelt, Morton Fullerton, Anna Bahlmann, Henry James, Daniel Chester French, Beatrix Farrand, Walter Berry and long time servant Charles Cook. 

“Mistress of Her Fate” – Edith with Henry James, Morton Fullerton, and her faithful servant, Cook

They also feature Wharton’s home, The Mount, as the backdrop for the beautiful photos. 

“Writer’s Retreat” – Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount


“Strong Stance” – Edith and friends in the garden terrace of The Mount

The actors/actresses involved in this re-enactment are: Natalia Vodianova (Edith Wharton), Jeffrey Eugenides (Henry James), Elijah Wood (Charles Cook), Jack Huston (Morton Fullerton), Juno Temple (Anna Bahlmann), Nate Lowman (Daniel Chester French), Mamie Gummer (Beatrix Farrand), Junot Diaz (Walter Berry), Jonathan Safran Foer (Ogden Codman, Jr), Max Minghella (Maxfield Parrish), and James Corden (Teddy Roosevelt).

You may recognize some of these personages from their other artistic endeavors – the only two I knew of were Elijah Wood and Jack Huston (if you watch Boardwalk Empire, he portrays Richard Harrow).

“Artistic Endeavors” – Edith’s neighbor, artist Daniel Chester French

I don’t know about you, but I think the all the actors did a pretty good job of representing their historical counterparts.  These images have really helped the characters of The Age of Desire jump off of the page for me. 

“Guests of Honor” – Edith and her literary posse

You can read more about what it took behind the scenes to create these photos at Vogue. 

“A Study of Desire” – Edith where she felt most at home

What do you think of these images?  Do you think they capture the spirit of Edith Wharton?

 

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

9 comments:

  1. Great pics! I just read The Age of Desire recently and I enjoyed it. These pictures are great to look at after reading the book, thanks for sharing!

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    1. I really think that the pictures can help, especially in regard to the settings.

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  2. Edith is one of my favorite authors. Even though I live in Massachusetts, I have never been to the house. It is on my must visit list.

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    1. I have not had the chance to read Edith Wharton before - but I am interested in taking a look at her works. I certainly want to visit the Mount. I did a post yesterday - a virtual tour - of the Mount, here is the link if you missed it - http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/2012/10/virtual-tour-of-mounthome-of-edith.html

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  3. Visually, totally pretty -- although the casting isn't my favorite -- I love the look!

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    1. Yeah, I'm not so sure about the casting - but the images are beautiful.

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  4. These are great, Heather! I always love seeing her exposes likes this.

    I recently found out that Feedburner is not going away, but I had already set up my email subscriptions through MailChimp. It is free to set up your email subscribers through them and it's relatively easy to import your email subscriber list from Feedburner and then fix it to where MailChimp pulls your blog posts. Just thought you might want to check it out.

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  5. I had to go over to Vogue and look at them up close after what Audra said about the casting. I love the casting myself. Loved Elijah Wood as the chaffeur and Jack Huston and Mamie Gummer really have that old-fashioned look about them.

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  6. Gorgeous photos! I've only tried one Wharton book, and I couldn't get through it. That was several years ago, and may have been life circumstances, so I have to give the girl another go.

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Thanks for leaving your comments! I love reading them and try to reply to all!