Everyone comes to mind with the spectacular images of the main courtyard of the princely palace transformed into an open-air cathedral, its cohort of heads of state, the jubilation in the principality and the five hundred guests amazed by the magical ball given in the Garnier room of the Monte-Carlo Opera… From this historic day of the wedding of Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco, July 2 2011, Julian Lennon delivered a testimony that was the polar opposite of this dazzling splendor. Behind the scenes images of the event with Princess Charlene. Facing the mirror, surrounded by a swarm of makeup artists, hairdressers and dressmakers who seem to disappear into the distance, the young woman is preparing to become a princess. A moment as intense as it is cozy, transcribed with glamor in the black and white photographs of Julian Lennon. Some of which are accessible for the first time thanks to the book that the artist has recently published, entitled Life’s Fragile Momentsand whose cover is precisely a portrait of Princess Charlene taken from this series.
10 minutes, 14 images
Before this bookish edition, these rare images were first sold in the form of a limited edition of one hundred boxes for the benefit of his White Feather foundation and that of Princess Charlene. And while the princely twins were announced at the end of 2014, Julian Lennon was the subject of an exhibition at the Artcube gallery. On this occasion, he confided to Point of view his memories of this shooting session like no other, which lasted ten minutes, the time to take fourteen images. “After going through numerous security checks, I finally arrived at the hotel,” he remembers. The photographer Patrick Demarchelier was also there with his team, I stood in a corner with my camera. Hairdressers, makeup artists, assistants or assistants of assistants gave their all to make Charlene look splendid, and I also tried to do my best!”
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Landscapes and portraits
Thus Princess Charlene found her place in the pages of this beautiful book bringing together landscapes, portraits of celebrities and anonymous people. A poetic approach in black and white which saw the light of day at the German publishing house teNeues at the end of a journey strewn with pitfalls. “This book is like a retrospective,” Julian Lennon recently explained at a press conference in New York reported by Forbes magazine. “I’ve wanted to do it for years and, really, everyone has. initially refused. The editors of teNeues came to see me and asked me: “why have you never done this book?” “You tell me!” I told them.” An ultimately successful initiative which allows us to discover these moments which, according to Julian Lennon, also tell a story: “In some, Princess Charlene seems in a deep contemplative state, he told us in detail, in others we feel a touch of apprehension at the idea of what her life will become. Then there are those where she seems very resolved and ready for this final consent, which will allow her to move forward. “It’s very spectacular.”
Life’s Fragile Moments, by Julian Lennon, 240p., teNeues editions.
