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This is one of my favorite picture books. What could be better than celebrity skin first thing in the morning? I guess the concept coulda turned out to be a bad idea cuz, I mean, I for one try real hard to avoid women in the morning. Photographs, though, are a safe way to experience the sleepy-eyed beauty of chicks with bed head.
Another reason I dig this picture book is cuz it shows these famous women in their own setting - usually at home and in bed.
It's a small glimpse into their simple splendor. Also, I love that this book focuses on the obscure women of Hollywood rather than the women seen on television or heard on the radio on a regular basis.
It's comforting to realize that famous women look just as butch in the morning as any of us. Wet hair neatly combed and parted on the side, the puffy face of not enough sleep. Winona Ryder could pass for a pre-pubescent boy. The majority of these celebs sleep nude or at least topless - kind of a butch thing right there. It's easy to imagine most women wearing something stupid to sleep in - like silk and lace. Not these chicks cuz these chicks rock. They ain't posing neither. Photographer Veronique Vial had free access to the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen. Wherever. Some of the women look a little startled that they've woken up to someone taking their picture. But there's not an unflattering shot in the book.
Milla Jovovich sleeps with a teddy bear (8:09). Robin Tunney has a chandelier in her bathroom (8:45). Angelina Jolie doesn't have a headboard on her bed but does have a cig in her mouth (9:00). Joley Fisher has a big tattoo at the small of her back (9:29). Natasha Lynonne is sexy as hell sitting on a ragged couch with her coffee and cigs (9:00). Patricia Arquette sleeps with her watch on (8:33). Donita Sparks sleeps in a slip and looks like an over worked hooker, but with guitar in hand (8:49). Reese Witherspoon sleeps in a blouse and with a dog (7:57). Tatjana sleeps with four huge dogs...and is still super model beautiful without make up (9:33). Sofia Coppola looks like 12 years old (9:29).
In this book, the older women photographed are wide-awake, fully dressed and already way busy before 10 a.m. The younger chicks are either still in bed or trying to do stuff like smoke and brush their teeth at the same time. Jenny Shimizu is the coolest. She's wearing plaid PJ bottoms and, well, not much more other than a mysterious tattooed woman draped over her. Big bed. Leopard print sheets. Huge windows with dramatic curtains. My friend Sarah used to date her...like I said, Jenny Shimizu is the coolest dyke I know.
If this photographer were hanging out with me, here's what she'd see...but not necessarily before 10 a.m.
The Anarchist Artist: Rolls off me, gets into a bubble bath, dries us off, tackles me to the floor, rolls on top of me (Noon).
The Married Woman: Stumbling down the stair case pulling her blouse on, gets in car, drives home to husband (2am).
The Rock Star: Thermal underwear, fucked up hair, no make up except for left over glitter, wrapped in a blanket with me on couch (1pm).
The Cute Cat: Sleepy-eyed, daintily sitting beside me, waiting for me to acknowledge her (8:55pm)
Me, The Writer: Tangled hair caught in jewelry, Joe Boxers if anything, fumbling for the light (9pm).
I can't believe the all access pass that Veronique Vial received from this eclectic lot of women. She's got chicks bathing. She's got them shaving more than just their legs. Reading their own tarot cards. Pulling their pants on. Hair wrapped in a towel. Doing yoga with a tiny dog in lap. Fully nude and pregnant. Reading the paper, reading a script. Daryl Hanna gettin' kissed by her dog. Gina Gershon wearing god knows what, barefoot and cooking. Holly Hunter in the make up chair.
The photograph that warms my heart the most and also repulses me at the same time becuz it's so cute, so domesticated, so typical is of the two women side by side at the bathroom mirror - one (a writer) putting in a contact lens, the other (an actor) applying make up. Sweet. [Gag, choke, spit.]
www.powerhousebooks.com
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