Grace - By Howell Conant

[tbhrc]

'An intimate portrait of Princess Grace by her friend and favourite photographer'

Well it's a great picture book about Grace Kelly becoming Princess Grace of Monaco. I'm going to post some of the best pics (well there are so many ) and Conant's great captions.

'Through Conant's words and pictures, we see Grace Kelly in all her many roles: Oscar winning screen star, princess, loyal friend, wife and mother. The result is a moving and revealing portrait of a woman who remains the most glamorous and beautiful figure of a bygone golden age.'

'Howell Conant's remarkable photographic collaboration with Grace Kelly began in 1955, just before she won her Oscar, and it continued for more than twenty-five years, until her untimely death.'

1. Introductions: Portraits of a Lady
2. Grace in Jamaica
3. The Swan and the Prince
4. The Voyage to Monaco
5. The Wedding
6. Life with Rainier
7. Starting a family
8. Christmas in Monaco
9. The Duties of a Princess
10. Happy Moments of a Happy Family

[Casey321]

Great!

Cant wait...

[tbhrc]

1. Introductions: Portraits of a Lady

'Years after my assistant snapped this picture of me with the newly engaged Grace and Rainier, the couple inscribed it and returned the print as a gift. Rainier wrote, "It would look better underwater" - a reference to our mutual interest in scuba-diving and undersea photography.'




'Conant on assignment in Jamaica in 1955 to photograph Grace Kelly for Collier's'




'The prince and princess ceremoniously bestow a royal focusing cloth on Howell Conant, 1957'





'At the last session: Grace and Rainier in Frank Sinatra's Palm Springs home, 1981.'




(© Howell Conant)

[tbhrc]

2. Grace in Jamaica

'The raised hand meant "Don't take my picture now." We were just getting to know each other on this trip, and I hadn't yet learned how far I could go with her. Grace had definite ideas about how she wanted to look. Though she rejected the traditional studio image, she disliked the sloppiness of candid photography, too. In time, we found a middle ground.'





'I'll never forget this series. Once, when I complained that actors and actresses always fell into cliché poses, Jimmy Cagney suggested that I should get them to act, shoot motion pictures, and then select stills from the film. So, when Grace began playing with a pillow, I grabbed the next best thing - my 35mm motor-drive - and started shooting. Grace was so myopic she couldn't see ten feet in front of her, so she followed the sound of my voice as I "directed" her. "Beautiful," I said over and over again. The more the camera hummed, the more she reacted. "Beautiful. Beautiful." '













(© Howell Conant)

[tbhrc]

2. Grace in Jamaica

'Grace was a consummate actress. With her on the sultry spring vacation, I noticed that she had a dancer's awareness of her body; her every movement was a telling gesture. Whether she was checking her makeup with the help of sister Peggy or relaxing on the stern of a boat we happened upon on a quiet walk by the water, Grace's arms and legs were as expressive as her face.'






'Our time in Jamaica was the most relaxed I ever saw her - this was one place where Grace could let down her guard and not worry about fans, MGM executives, or critics. Here I was telling her some ridiculous story when she broke down laughing. As usual, I had my camera ready.'





(© Howell Conant)

More tomorrow........

[RADKER18]

Thanks tbhrc love all the pics.

[tenngirl]

These pictures are beautiful.

Thank you so much!

[tbhrc]

3. The Swan and the Prince

'There is a lot of waiting in movie-making, and that gave her a lot of time to think. She remained remote on the set: quiet, pensive. Wrapped in a camel's-hair overcoat, she stood next to this incongruous-looking stage light and I snapped away. For me, this was a new side of Grace, a hard-working acress.'




'At twenty-six, Grace had reached the top of her profession. The Swan was the first picture in which she recieved top billing, yet her costars were Louis Jourdan, Alec Guiness and Agnes Moorehead. That's Jourdan at left getting a few pointers from director Charles Vidor before his dueling scene with Grace. A studio technician, below, checks the lighting before they shoot.'









(© Howell Conant)

[tbhrc]

3. The Swan and the Prince

'The distractions prompted Grace to keep her hands busy. Between scenes, she would return to her dressing room and crochet or knit. I would always stay near Grace; my set depended upon everyone knowing that I wasn't just any photographer, that I had Grace's full cooperation.'




'A few weeks after we returned from filming The Swan, she called to announce that she was hoing to marry this Prince So-and-So, and I asked if I would take their engagement picture. I hurried over to her Park Avenue apartment and saw a Grace Kelly I had never seen before. Jamaica had introduced me to the playful Grace, and The Swan to the thoughtful, inward Grace; now I found standing arm in arm with Prince Rainier of Monaco, Grace Kelly Number Three, a woman in love. I was so nervous I forgot to thread my film and shot only four good frames before we quit. Then the couple walked quietly over to the window for a few private words.'





(© Howell Conant)

[RachelD]

Wow! What nice pictures!

[maryshawn]

This is a GREAT book! Thanks for reminding us all of it TBHRC!

The photo of Princess Grace where she is eating an orange on a stick is one of the few he took of her looking "up" at her face as she hated her chin--according to him. But I don't think this woman was capable of taking a bad shot.

[princess olga]

Amazing Grace, indeed! Thanks for the pictures, I'd never seen these! Our modern princesses, bar Caroline and Mathilde, can't hold a candle to this woman.

[norwegianne]

I think that if you put dark hair on her in this picture - it would be just like seeing Caroline. http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/56/conant10gq3.jpg

Really excellent pictures, tbhrc, but I also enjoy the "captions" that go with them.

[Sira]

Princess Grace was extremely beautiful and photogenic.

[tbhrc]

You're welcome. It's really a great book, you get to see some rare pics of the family, acting like everyone else, cooking for the family, just enjoying each others company.

And norwegianne, I completely agree with you, esp. the part around her mouth looks just like Caroline's, imo.

4. The Voyage to Monaco

'Life on the boat was crazy. The press made it seem like a zoo. We cordoned of an area outside Grace's stateroom to protect the wedding party from all the reporters and photographers; at right, Grace and Peggy take advantage of their own privae bit of deck. I was lucky - as Grace's photographer, I had access to her when the others didn't. I was working for Life, yet Grace, Rainier, and I had struck a deal to keep that a secret.'









'While the rest of the press followed each other around, I was able to store my cameras in Grace's stateroom. Photographer's lurked around every corner and peered through every window, hoping to grab a picture of Grace unawares. Here she shields herself with a newspaper.'





(© Howell Conant)

[tbhrc]

4. The Voyage to Monaco

'Charades was a popular shipboard game, and Grace loved to play. In the series here, she tries her hand at dramatizing the phrase "watch the danger line"; in the last one, along with other members of the wedding party, she tries to guess as agent Jay Kanter (the shadow at far right) acts out "heat transfer and thermodynamics." Paris Match photographer Walter Carone is sitting just behind Grace's right shoulder. We let him play on one condition: no cameras.'













'The Constitution didn't dock in Monaco, so most of the press had to disembark early in Cannes. Paris Match's Walter Carone stayed aboard, wrapped his cameras in plastic, slipped through a porthole, and dropped into the sea, where a small boat sent by his magazine picked him up. Only her parents and I had been allowed to join Grace and Rainier on the yacht; after a chat in the saloon, the couple stood at the bow and looked out at the thousands of people waiting to greet them.'



(© Howell Conant)


To be continued......

[tbhrc]

5. The Wedding

'For the civil ceremony, the bride wore a rose-coloured lace dress with silk taffeta and a Juliet cap. Here, she arrives with her mother and father behind her. It was all so impressive, and yet I had to wonder: was this Grace? It turned out that some of the same questions were going through her mind.'





'After the civil ceremony, about three thousand of Grace's new subjects were treated to cake and champagne in the palace courtyard. Now Grace Kelly was a princess, coping with all the glamour and responsibility that went with the title.'




'Rainier and his princess acknowledge the crowds of Monégasques from their palace window that evening. The fuss around the event had made things unpleasant for both of them, yet Grace's innate sense of dignity allowed her to keep up a good appearance.'




(© Howell Conant)

5. The Wedding

'The reception included six hundred guests, but Grace stayed close to the wedding party- Though polite, both she and Rainier were spent from their ordeal and ready to sail off on their honeymoon (they planned to cruise along the Riviera and the coast of Spain). Ava Gardner, who had starred with Grace in Mogambo, asked me if I could get her into the private area to see the bride. When I did, it created a huge fuss from everyone else who wanted to get near. Prince Rainier was annoyed with me for this breach of protocol, but kept his sense of humour. "Hey Howell!" he called out. "Have you got a brother?" When I said yes, the prince replied, "I hope he's nicer than you are!"





'Grace's wedding gown drew a lot of attention. Designed by Helen Rose (who had done the actress's costume for The Swan), it featured 125-year-old Brussels lace, twenty-five yards of silk taffeta, and a veil sewn with tiny pearls. Rainier had designed his own wedding uniform, blending symbols of French and Italian military history (he is wearing the French equivalent of the Medal of Honor). Here they dine at the reception.'



(© Howell Conant)


To be continued......