Scarlett Johansson, Oprah Winfrey, Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Sean Penn are some of the celebrities who will appear without makeup in Vanity Fair's 20th Hollywood Issue.
The portraits were shot by iconic US photographer and painter Chuck Close, who had an unusual list of rules for the photo shoot: "1. Arrive alone or with one close friend or associate; 2. Be available for three hours; 3. Be responsible for your own look – no professional styling or hair or makeup; 4. Be content with coffee and deli sandwiches or salads – nothing fancy will be served; 5. Get to the studio under your own steam."
In the Vanity Fair video, 'Up Close and Personal' (see below), Close describes the process as a collaboration between photographer and subject: "After every shot, the picture goes up on the wall. I can look at it and the sitter can look at it. They say, ‘oh, ok, this is what we’re doing’. And then the next one is closer and the next one is closer, until we eventually get what we want. So it’s collaborative and I’m just not comfortable not letting them be an active part in the process."
Close shot the portraits with a rare, ultra-large format Polaroid camera developed in the 1970s. The camera, which is similar in size to a small car, produces instant prints that measure 50 x 60cm.
"I don’t do glamour shots and they’re not airbrushed, so they can be rough. …it takes a real act of generosity and faith on the part of the subject to go with it and give me their image…but I think people realise that I’m trustworthy."
Close believes the reception to his unadorned photos will be mixed: “There will be people who think I didn’t glamourise the subject enough… And there’ll be people who say, 'Thank God, somebody shows people as real people, the way they are, and their humanity shows through'."
Either way, Close says he is looking forward to reading the letters to the editor.
Scarlett Johansson (2013) by Chuck Close for Vanity Fair.
Brad Pitt (2013) by Chuck Close for Vanity Fair.
Oprah Winfrey poses for photographer Chuck Close for Vanity Fair's 20th Hollywood Issue. Photo by Myrna Suarez for Vanity Fair.