We just got our copy of photographer Mark Peterson's brilliant new book, "Acts of Charity"
(PowerHouse). Peterson has a gift for capturing the look of diabolical
merriment, the satanic gleam of insidious privilege on the mugs of
so-called "high society" types, that eludes most photographers who
cover charity balls.
Check out this photo of frosty Vogue editrix Anna Wintour, and her big
bucks beau Shelby Bryan, with Isabella Rossellini in 2001.
And this snap of a fellow with a drunk girl over his shoulder at one of
those Bridgehampton Polo bacchanals. Buy the book to see the rest; as
you can tell, it's well worth it.
Don't skip author Phillip Weiss' intro, either, which contains a
hysterical anecdote about Peterson’s profile of Brooke Astor for the
Times. Peterson accompanied the grande dame to a public school in
Harlem where she presented a check for $5,000 before a group of kids in
the library. Then she asked the kids if they'd read her childhood
favorite, "Little Black Sambo". Whoops.
