The Art of Glamour

The art of glamour photography, like art itself, is almost impossible to define. You see it or you don't. Here's a perfect example: an advert for Chanel. Is this an amateur's snapshot of his girlfriend? No way! Do note the discrete bowler hat, which tells us the model is British. Who? It's Keira Knightley, of course. Didn't recognize her? That's because she's glamorized up to the eyeballs. But the anonymous photographer has made a far better job of it than did the digital artist whose misguided efforts on Keira I showed you recently (title link). Retouching artist? Probably. Lettering artist. Certainly. Digital polishing. You betcha. Makeup artist, hair stylist, lighting engineer.... This advert is the end product of a huge and expensive group effort to turn an already beautiful young woman into a glamour queen fit for Chanel.