At the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, actress Chloë Sevigny was photographed descending the stairs of what appears to be a 7 For All Mankind gifting suite. The evidence isn’t in the form-fitting turtleneck she’s wearing, or even the cool leather jacket she sat on the floor to take a picture in; it’s the branded shopping bag she holds ever so casually in not one but two photos.
In the next series of images, she’s gleefully testing out a PlayStation 2 in what appears to be a no-frills brand experience tent. Who would have thought that the reigning queen of indie cinema enjoys free boot cut jeans and video games? We can thank a Getty Images photographer for capturing such an honest moment at the time, and Getty Images Fan Club for resurfacing those images into the current Instagram zeitgeist.
If, like me, you can pore over images like the above and then some, Getty Images Fan Club is your destination for photographs of celebrities from the not-so-distant past. Before camera phones, robust glam teams, and, of course, social media, famous people went to movie premieres, film festivals, restaurants, or even solo shopping trips down Melrose, and they didn’t always look so… polished and primed for endless consumption. It didn’t seem as if they were trying to cut through the noise; they simply seemed to be. Yes, they were stars, so they were always just a touch more glamorous than you and me, but it’s refreshing to see a relatively simpler time in celebrity culture: D’Angelo and Grace Jones chatting at a Giorgio Armani event at the Guggenheim, or Ashley Olsen wearing a Balenciaga schoolboy blazer and YSL Tribute heels in front of a rack of ladies’ underwear at what must have been a retail shopping event.
The images on Getty Images Fan Club might feed our appetite for nostalgia, but they also serve as archival timestamps for where we were in popular culture. Celebrities in these photographs appear more pure by today’s standards, in part because they were photographed before social media created the expectation that every public appearance might live forever on a feed. That doesn’t mean celebrity culture was somehow kinder. The same era produced a booming tabloid culture obsessed with catching famous women (and some men) looking anything less than camera-ready.
Maybe that contradiction is part of why these images are so seductive to look at now. They seem to offer evidence of a simpler, less saturated celebrity culture, even if the simplicity we see in them is partly a false or faded memory. Removed from their original context and placed back into circulation decades later, they become something else entirely. A photograph that once documented who attended a party can now tell us how much our expectations of fame, beauty, and what’s fashionable have changed.
The person behind the account, Saul Pereira, keeps a low profile, but it was his ability to find these moments within a seemingly bottomless Getty archive that suggested he would be the ideal subject for Five Easy Questions.
What was the first film that felt like it was made exclusively for you?
Catwalk. I didn't even know it existed but it came on TV super late at night when I was a kid. Super young, I don’t know how old. But I was like aarrghhhhh!
What's the perfect time of day to watch a movie?
I would say dinner time! Eating good food while watching a movie is a supreme combo. Rainy weather is also a good vibe. Although I must admit I prefer a really captivating TV show than a movie to be honest hahaha. A show you can get lost in the world they've created.
What film do you regret not seeing in a theater when it was first released?
The McQueen documentary. His shows and clothes are so cinematic. That would've been incredible to see on the big screen. Or the Margiela documentary. I don’t know if that was released in the cinema or not?What's a film that was misunderstood or considered a flop when it was released that you've come to love?
Josie and The Pussycats, I recently watched it. From memory in Australia it went straight to DVD. It didn't even get a cinematic release. I think I rented it when I was young in 2002? I recently watched it again and it's iconic. The fashion is very camp and the movie is kinda making fun of itself the whole way through which I love. I love Parker Posey in it so much!What was the last film you saw where the audience applauded when the credits rolled?
Oh wow! I can't remember? It was so long ago. Maybe one of the Lord of the Rings movies. I would go see them on Boxing Day with my family and the cinema was so packed and the audience was so passionate.
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