A happy birthday to Luise Rainer, a German film actress who was the first woman to win two Academy Awards, and the first person to win them back to back. Born on January 12th, 1910, her career spans nearly 70 years, the cusp of her Hollywood stardom having been in the late 1930s. Rainer later commented that by winning two consecutive Oscars, "nothing worse could have happened to me", as audience expectations from then on would be too high to fulfill.
Well, today the grand dame of the cinema is celebrating her 100th birthday and we visited her the day before. Despite the frailties of old age, she is a mesmerising, energetic and still somewhat theatrical lady who deeply impressed me with her vitality, optimism and sharp view of the world. It's almost impossible to imagine that she has witnessed an entire century, and most of the personalities within it first hand - I was literally speechless in her presence. Thus after photographing her, I feel grateful for the opportunity, kindness and trust with which she met my camera.
Well, today the grand dame of the cinema is celebrating her 100th birthday and we visited her the day before. Despite the frailties of old age, she is a mesmerising, energetic and still somewhat theatrical lady who deeply impressed me with her vitality, optimism and sharp view of the world. It's almost impossible to imagine that she has witnessed an entire century, and most of the personalities within it first hand - I was literally speechless in her presence. Thus after photographing her, I feel grateful for the opportunity, kindness and trust with which she met my camera.
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