This editorial for Vogue Paris, Nov 2008 is one of my faves. By using the same model in every picture, Eniko Mihalik shows how the tricks of the trade like hairstyles, facial expressions, make-up, and photography angles can be magical and powerful! No photoshop was used on the photos (from what I read). 

As I’m a visual person, I added my own take on the photos…and painted a picture within a picture, if you will.

Pictured here at 10, there’s that certain wide-eyed innocence. She embodies a real carefree disposition, and enjoys swimming in the neighbour’s pool till dusk and playing hopscotch with her friends. She also eats ice cream in abundance, believes that if she swallows watermelon seeds, that they’ll grow inside of her, and has a wonderful imagination.

At 20, she blossoms into a typical high-school/college girl first getting acquainted with mascara and lip-gloss; expressions of youth with straight hair, painted finger nails and bright lips are very prominent. There is also an overwhelming sense of eagerness and anticipation in her expression, as she senses the freedom to choose how she wants to live her life is more her choice than it was when she was in her teens. Parental control, out, self-control (or lack thereof), in.

At 30, she looks like she’s had her taste of some reality, but she’s still young at heart and mind. Perhaps some bad relationships have taken a notch or two on her belt from her 20′s, but they only reinforced her strong ability to pick up the pieces and fall in love again – on her terms, as she enters the 30′s. On a personal level, she finally comes out victorious from a quarter-life crisis that leads her to a ‘this is who I am and I’m not apologizing for it anymore’ mantra. She’s a force to be reckoned with….even though it took a lot of heartache, learning, and potentially some regretful decisions to get to this point. Also, her fashion sense is bold, unforgiving, and adventurous – a true testament to how she is as a person today.

At 40, life reins in as she matures and develops into a more assured woman; the wild sides she showed more vivaciously in her youth haven’t been eliminated totally but more so tamed…well, depending on the mood she’s in. She’s also known to turn more heads of young men in comparison to men her age because she tends to intimidate men of her generation – and she likes it this way.

At 50, she goes back to a very classic and enduring look which reflects a sense of refined sophistication after living through the many decades; tastes have been distilled and she doesn’t have time to fuss over the petty things in life or take life too seriously. Perhaps this easy-going outlook on life is the reason of how she still manages to elude her age. After all, age is a state of mind.

Finally at 60, the beauty grows inwards as the outer appearance is toned down in favor of more subtle expression. With a sense that the inner wisdom is now far more distinguishing than the outer appearance, she is content with life on levels she never thought she could reach. If she only knew what she knows now during her 20-somethings, she thinks.