Isabella Rossellini: Looking At Me: On Pictures and Photographs

by Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, Kurt Markus

Self-reflection by celebrities tends to be fraught with unmentionable difficulties. Not, though, when the star in question is the ever intelligent, self-aware, articulate, and magnificent Isabella Rossellini. For years, a wall in the entrance of Rossellini's apartment has been covered in pictures taken of her by different photographers. Looking at the "Me Wall," Rossellini writes that she never really saw herself; instead she "saw the photographer's work, their ideas, and our collaboration in capturing fantasies." Looking at Me gathers together Rossellini's private collection of portraits taken of herself by some of the world's leading photographers, including Eve Arnold, Richard Avedon, Michel Comte, Patrick Demarchelier, Fabrizio Ferri, Horst P. Horst, Brigitte Lacombe, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Lindbergh, Robert Mapplethorpe, Steven Meisel, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Paolo Roversi, Ellen von Unwerth, and Bruce Weber, as well as filmmakers David Lynch and Wim Wenders. Rossellini invites us to join her as she looks at her favorite portraits, privileging us with her witty, humorous, and self-ironical comments. She traces her career, in photographs, from boxing reporter in Muhammad Ali's training camp to highly successful model, from actress in some of Hollywood's more controversial films to head of her own cosmetic line, Manifesto. Mixed in with these public images are pictures of Rossellini in private, with her children, her dog Macaroni, and her pig Spanky. Irresistibly charming, intelligent yet whimsical, Looking At Me proves the perfect complement to Rossellini herself.

Genres: Photography

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Lindbergh was born in Poland and grew up in Duisburg. He studied painting in art school, but began photography in 1971 and established himself as an advertising photographer. Moving to Paris in 1978, to concentrate on high-fashion, he photographed many top models including Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Isabella Rossellini, Nastassja Kinski and Tatjana Patitz as well as other projects with Karl Lagerfeld, Daryl Hannah, Giorgio Armani and more. His photographs have been published by Stern, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue magazines. He also photographed Céline Dion for her perfume ad. A new upcoming project is an advert video shoot for Mariah Carey’s new fragrance, "M".
He is considered to be one of the world's preeminent fashion photographers, particularly in black and white, and is credited with helping create the supermodel phenomenon of the 1990s. He prefers his model to have minimal make-up and a simple hairstyle. Wim Wenders is an admirer of his work.