EDITOR’S LETTER
It may seem strange to read this at the start of winter, but the overwhelming message I got from reviewing this issue of Vogue before it went to press was: now is the time to turn towards the sun. Sunlight is a defining element of Australian life. It illuminates our sunburnt plains (and sometimes, regrettably, sunburnt people), gleams off our waters and makes our skies the bluest of blues. Visiting foreign and expat photographers inevitably comment on this unique quality of light.
Unique also describes our antipodean experience of Covid-19. It appears, at the time of writing, that Australians and New Zealanders have worked together as communities and governments to bring the health issue under control, leaving us well prepared to deal with and contract-trace any clusters, and treat those who are ill with the attention and compassion every patient deserves. The economic carnage is on a scale that is still difficult to fathom, and the suffering caused because of it is still untold, and untolled.
At Vogue, we plan and photograph our content well in advance, and so over lockdown and while working remotely we were unable to put creative teams together, including make-up artists and stylists, whose roles require regular contact with subjects. We had to rethink how we work, and the learnings have been inspiring. Ingenuity has been born of necessity. Portraiture and fashion photography over Zoom has required our subjects to be at the centre of the image-making. As opposed to being closely directed by the photographer, or passively having their make-up applied by a professional, the talents were actively involved in the creative process, applying the make-up themselves, doing their hair, and suggesting how they might pose. As such, the imagery you will see in this magazine reveals their perceptions of self and the stories they wish to tell like never before.
Cate Blanchett, in lockdown in the UK, agreed to collaborate with Vogue on a special portrait with one of her favourite artists, Fiona Lowry, who, on the other side of the world, was also in lockdown.
Of the finished artwork, Fiona says: “I’m not sure how others will read it, but for me it’s a moment of surrender. There was a time during this crisis where everything we had planned had to be let go of, and when that acceptance came, it was so beautiful to have the stillness and quiet. I didn’t want it to end. It was a fleeting moment, but one that I think should be savoured. My work is often about capturing someone going through an experience and this work also speaks to that idea.”
Cate’s on-screen performance in Foxtel’s Mrs. America has entertained us through this period and the many nights we’ve spent at home. Her conversation with co-star Rose Byrne, from page 92, also encapsulates our experiences of it.
The Jagger sisters, Georgia May and Lizzy, are the exception in this issue. The pair was photographed, from page 112, by our team in Melbourne last December when they attended the National Gallery of Victoria’s opening night gala to celebrate the Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition. Jerry Hall, the sisters’ mother,
knew both artists, being part of the same thriving creative scene of New York City in the 1980s.
For this issue, Georgia May and Lizzy model wintery looks in the hip bars and restaurants that make Melbourne one of the best and most vibrant in the world – a world we are all longing to get back to.
Vogue has always celebrated beautiful women, and does so in this issue by profiling some of the teachers, medical workers, social workers and other key professionals who continue to be the frontline defence and resistance through this crisis. My personal thanks to Optus, which recognised the value of telling these women’s stories both in this issue and on our social media channels, and supported us to commission this wonderful portfolio (see page 44) photographed by Matthew Abbott, who famously shot the image of the kangaroo jumping in front of a wall of fire that came to define the tragedy of Australia’s bushfire season. I am so proud of these images and having the opportunity and privilege to publish the stories of these beautiful Australians.
Another extraordinary Australian woman is epidemiologist Jennifer Duncombe. You can read her story about working in the field during outbreaks of Ebola in Africa on page 36. I want to thank Jenn for working with us during lockdown to answer questions from our readers online, helping us to better understand the pandemic on a global and local scale. Because that is one factor that is difficult to understand: a pandemic is both a global and hyperlocal experience. Universally shared and yet very different depending on where you live, even at a national scale. Jenn, who so eloquently expresses the sorrow and loss she has seen, also saw kindness overcome the misery. Somehow, she says, “together we learned to turn our faces towards the sun”.
An editor’s letter usually has an image of the editor looking her very best. It’s a practice, to be frank, I have never really liked, because a team puts a magazine together. So this month, here is me at home working in my lounge room on one of my late-night calls with all the international editors planning the upcoming September issues and an exciting global project we have lined up for them. The photo credit belongs to my teenage daughter. But here too, above, is the wonderful Vogue team on Zoom, who made this issue happen and lent their creative genius, writing and unique form of storytelling to the creation of it. They also made me laugh, a lot, and occasionally cry. They remained unified, in it together.
I hope you enjoy this issue created by this talented team in completely unique circumstances and that you will keep it to look back on and think: I remember those dark times, we learned so much, and lost a lot, but this was the moment when, together, we looked towards the sun.