First Step

Hat tip to Lunar Pioneer for this one!

Louis Vuitton, purveyor of very expensive handbags, is launching a new ad campaign tomorrow featuring Sally Ride, Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell… in some of the most exquisite portraiture I’ve seen, hands-down. (Looking at LV’s “Previous Journeys” section, I see that these spacefarers are featured alongside movie stars, directors and the like, which pleases me. Any company placing astronauts on the same level as Sean Connery is okay by me. Not that I could ever afford one of their lovely handbags, but whatever.)

This triple portrait is so striking: majestic, filled with longing and new hopes… windswept and moonlit. A triptych of heros presented in regular dress, wistfully looking to the stars as so many of us do. And yes I realize this shot is modified digitally, but I really don’t care — I’m talking composition and message, here. The photographer, Annie Leibovitz, is an artist in every sense of the word, and this portrait is ART.

The ad campaign is set to launch tomorrow, and I hope to add more photos from this shoot if they’re available. Will post if I find some!

ETA: I found an article which has much more information on the ad campaign here. According to this source, the official site launch is July 2, at which time there will be full, downloadable interview footage from the astronaut shoot and more. I am very much looking forward to this. At present the article only mentions the ad appearing in “international magazines”, so I hope the Internet gets more specific so I can go out and buy a copy!