“I am so real, he says, that I am unreal.” – Lady Gaga on Terry Richardson.
Lady Gaga is an enigma. Although we know she must be human like the rest of us, she looks and behaves like something from another planet.
Her lyrics are the most human aspect of her persona, and even they sometimes falter. But all that has changed with the publication of her first book. Gaga allowed the often controversial photographer, Terry Richardson, to follow her
movements from August 2010 to February 2011, and the some 100,000 images he shot have been edited down to the 450 photographs showcased in the book.
Gaga and Richardson are by no means the first to publish a behind-the-scenes book, but Gaga herself is what makes this book so special. Gaga is a true performer, who never lets her stage persona slip even for a second. There’s no moment when you can spot the girl behind Gaga, she’s
switched on as it were twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. But with this book, you get to see what Gaga’s really like when the cameras aren’t present. From photographs of her in tears at gifts from her fans, or eating spaghetti in jeans and a t-shirt in one of the many hotel rooms she passes through, all these images give a tantalising glimpse at the girl behind the public persona. Of course, the images of her visually outstanding stage performances are well worth a look, but it’s the private moments which Richardson has been privy to which make this book so amazing.
I always love books which show the private, unseen side of these public figures we’re so used to seeing on TV and in the papers, and this book certainly doesn’t disappoint. I have a huge admiration for Gaga and what she does, and after looking through this book I can safely say I’m a little monster for life.
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