I saw this photo of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli on Tumblr awhile ago. It isn't very often that I'm touched by photographs of celebrities, but something about this just made me sit up and take notice. It was taken in 1962 by a British photographer named Terry O'Neill, who made a pretty good living shooting celebrities.
Judy would've been only 40 years old at the time of this picture (she would die only seven years later!), but she seems so much older, don't you think? But I suppose that may have been the result of the hard life she had. Something about the expression on her face seems to capture that pain, that sadness, and yet it's also mixed with a sense of... acceptance, perhaps? In this moment, at least, she seems at peace, undoubtedly because of the presence of Liza, who would've been 16 at the time this was taken.
The bond between the two of them in this photo is so palpable. Judy's entire heart and soul is being poured into Liza, who looks so heartbreakingly innocent. It's as if she knows the burden she carries, being the daughter of a Hollywood icon, but to her, Judy is just Mom. There is a kind of secret wisdom in Liza's eyes, almost as if she knows Judy better than Judy knows herself.
This is all speculation, mind you. I'm not the type to get caught up in the turmoil and the controversy of celebrities, and for the most part, I don't care about any of it. I'm simply going by what I see here, and like I said, this moved me in a way celebrity photos normally don't because of its emotional intensity.
That's all I wanted to say.
It is good sometimes to step back and remember that before they are celebrities, they are people. That the photo moved you is a tribute to the work O'Neill did that day.
ReplyDeleteTrue indeed.
ReplyDeleteY'know, I'm wondering now whether it's a candid shot or not. I don't think so, but it's hard to tell for sure.