So Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story of all time; to me it's the second greatest Shakespeare play (after Macbeth- Hamlet is seriously overrated), and my love for it as a story is most probably due in large part to Baz Luhrmann's epic film adaptation of '96. But, in my endless internet/book/magazine research I came across the pictures below and my heart went all a-flutter for it once more in a sighing, heart aching, oh my dear god that's so beautiful kind of way. The photos are from an American Vogue December '08 spread titled 'Love of a Lifetime'. The lovers in the spread are Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha and ballet dancer Roberto Bolle. Aside from the obvious exclamations of impeccable styling and fantastic art direction from the one and only photographer Annie Leibovitz, I just have to say how sincerely palpable the emotion is between 'Romeo' and 'Juliet', especially in the final 'death scene' frame which is just...stunning. It's the current inspirational background on my laptop. The set design is faultless- maintaining the perfect balance between traditional classicism but with a modern edge- I love the emphasis upon architecture and the vegetation which if you notice carefully goes through a similar life-death transition in the photos from green foliage, to delicate flowers (Juliet's hair in the wedding scene) to fallen autumnal leaves. I've really enjoyed looking through Leibovitz' portfolio of fashion spreads, especially the more 'fantasy' based ones such as the Marie Antoinette, which I posted about previously, the Alice in Wonderland with Natalia Vodianova and the Wizard of Oz with Keira Knightley, but this spread most definitely is on a whole different scale of emotion and beauty. Breathtaking. Truly.
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