Kate Middleton turns 40, the official photos by Paolo Roversi: "I made her dance in front of the camera".
The greenhouse of the marvellous Kew Gardens was the green set for the three portraits of Kate Middleton's 40th birthday today. In these royal botanical gardens (10 kilometres from London) there are many plant collections (alpine, Mediterranean, carnivorous, bonsai, orchids, etc.), but also one of the most important collections of seeds, including the endangered seeds saved in 1985 by Sir David Attenborough (one of the protagonists at the 2021 Glasgow Cop 26), which will be placed in a glass capsule to be opened in 2085.
The model of beauty that Kate represents today is all in this profile, a classic of certain Renaissance paintings (such as the Dama del Pollaiolo) and to give us a new image of herself (which will become part of the National Portrait Gallery in London, the museum of which the Duchess of Cambridge is patroness), she has chosen a master of photography, creator of iconic visions with the égéries of fashion, Paolo Roversi. Already at the age of nine, when he took a photo of his eighteen-year-old sister dressed up for a party, he sensed his vocation.
Born in Ravenna in 1947 (where he opened his first portrait studio at the age of 23 and was one of the first to use Polaroid 20x25 cameras), Roversi has been in Paris since 1973. His artistic practice is nourished by literature, philosophy, theatre, music and the work of other great colleagues. He has photographed many celebrities: Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Natalia Vodianova, Sting, Rihanna, Madonna, Belmondo, Ezra Pound...
First meeting last November at Kensington Palace, with Kate and her staff at a typical five o'clock tea with biscuits. And it's the first Royal Highness she's captured.
"A nice meeting, and then some nice pictures. But the Duchess was apprehensive at first. Every day she is swarmed by photographers but not used to posing; knowing my photos with the models she was a bit apprehensive about doing a real session, which took about four hours. But once we started it would be very easy, I reassured her. And so it was. Kate, who also studied art in Florence, is very fond of photography, in particular of authors such as Julia Margaret Cameron and Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice in Wonderland".
Since 2019 she has also been patron of the Royal Photographic Society, since Queen Elizabeth II left her the role after 67 years. Natural or artificial light to portray her?
"All in natural light. Not much make-up, no hairstyle, just pearl earrings, a ring... The focal point of Kate's face is her gaze and her smile. I didn't want her to be too lady duchess, too establishment, but as pure and as contemporary as possible, even more timeless".
Timeless, but also very Pre-Raphaelite. There is an atmosphere in the Duchess' profile photo (which she considers to be the official one, even though it is not from a protocol point of view) that recalls the painting of that mid-nineteenth-century English movement. To Dante Gabriel Rossetti or Sir David Coyle Burne-Jones, I refer in particular to his 1873 drawing Desiderium, woman in profile....
"Kate showed me some reproductions of the works of those artists she mentions to inspire me, but I have always been a Pre-Raphaelite.
Three photos and three very different Kate. The first, in profile, regal and with a maturity that goes beyond her age and the white dress that softens the seriousness of an effigy. The second chosen by William and his children where she returns a carefree girl. The third in colour is how she sees herself, a little more glamorous.
"In the official portrait, she is also a bit of Angelica from Visconti's Leopard".
There are often dreamlike and poetic elements in the photos you take. Then she says that through the lens of her lens she sees many things, in depth. What has Kate's person revealed to you?
"She is a friendly, welcoming woman who puts people at ease and respects everyone's work. She exudes joie de vivre. Open, generous, bright, I think she can bring a lot of hope to England and to the whole world.
Certainly a truly privileged condition, but for Diana it was very different.
"Lady Diana lived through a drama that made her unhappy, but she is really living her fairytale. But she has an enormous responsibility, her every gesture is looked at under a microscope".
In December, the photos were selected from 250 shots, almost all in black and white.
"In the end there were about seventy. I made the first selection, about ten of her favourites, then we arrived at three of my favourites and one of hers, the official photo is both mine and her favourite. Kate, however, was less decisive than me in her final choice. Designer Sarah Burton (Kate's wedding dress was hers) chose the dresses: only one was red, the others neutral. For the official portrait she wore the organza one, almost like a ballet dancer. In the end I wanted to take some moving pictures, so with that wonderful wide skirt I made her dance in front of my lens, a sort of accelerated waltz mixed with a pinch of rock'n'roll". And it's a secret image for now.
Source: Corriera della Sera
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