I saw this Ron Galella picture of Robert Redford framed in a boutique on Madison Avenue, and then again in a magazine at the gym, and simply can’t get it out of my head.  It’s brilliantly composed: the gleaming black sedan, the half-open door, the blinding flash in the star’s aviator glasses, and the contrapposto in his step.  It doesn’t have the grainy, off-kilter look that most Gallela images have, as if they were snapped just one moment after something photo-worthy happened. 

This is an image of male beauty.  And this is a glamor shot of a star who’s most famous for being preternaturally relaxed.  It’s often published with the white car in the foreground cropped out, but it’s that car that gives the photo texture as a paparazzi shot, placing the action in a narrow Manhattan side street.  Robert Redford is as exquisitely groomed as if he’s in an editorial shoot, although I think this is simply what he looked like and what he dressed like. He’s from an era when there were fewer, better movie stars.