The best decision

The whole "Lucky Star" thing was set aside and final decisions were made.

An album title, specially when it marks the debut of a pop artist, must be concise enough to define who's behind it and strong enough to get people's attention. And what better word(s) could do that than her first name itself?

An album cover serves the exact same purposes and Australian photographer Gary Heery couldn't have done a better job: he captured Madonna's essence - a mix of innocence, flirtiness, street rawness, glamour and ambition (yes... blond ambition) - in exquisite fashion, giving the world a first look to the woman who would define pop culture for decades to come.

 

 

Night Drive

A few more outtakes have arrived and this is definitely the one I love the most, from the first Versace campaign by Steven Meisel, back in 1995. Absolute elegance.

The one we've always known...

... the one we never knew (can't understand why, 'cause it's so freakin' amazing!)... 

... and the ones we (still) hope to see one day.

Herb Ritts, 1987

Ain't nothing like some vintage outtakes. Here are a few, from two of the many photoshoots M did during the True Blue era, with the incomparable Herb Ritts.

According to the blog On The Cover Of A Magazine, the black dress series was taken in Tokyo, on June 28, 1987. The white background series was taken the month before (May 31) and ended up on the cover of September's edition of Tatler magazine.

Love them!

Madonna & Herb

The first time I met Herb, he was on the set of Desperately Seeking Susan - and it's true, he put a pair of underwear on my head. I thought he was a real geek. I soon moved out to Los Angeles and ran into Hern again, and in his sweet, disarmong way, he suggested that we eork together again. I agreed to it and that was my real first, proper photo shoot. That's when I got "Herbified". It was the beginning of an incredibly long and fruitful working relationship. But it was also the beginning of a great friendship.

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Madonna

Ray Of Light Madonna for MTV Asia: the outtakes

M at her best youthful mode. One of my favourite clips I've seen lately...

Herb Ritts for The Girlie Show

If you're a die-hard M fan, you also get totally insane when a new outtake comes up.

Just came across this one: M the sailor by Herb Ritts (1993), for the Girlie Show tour poster. Here's our well-known version...


Now here's a slightly different one...


Once again: oh-my-god...

From retro to haute couture

Fashion photography has always been one of Madonna's strongest and most enduring medium, going back even to the "pre-Madonna" days - in 1980, she was already modelling retro couture for The Village Voice.

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But it wasn't until March 1995 that Madonna the Icon entered the world of fashion advertising. The campaign was for Versace's haute couture collection, exquisitelly captured by Steven Meisel.

One of the amazing outtakes that surfaced a few months ago was from this photoshoot.

Check out the complete session Through The Looking Glass.
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