There can be so much meaning conveyed in the way someone looks at you. And the exquisitely talented British actor Richard Armitage has a gaze that mesmerizes me as he looks through the camera lens to me/us.
A gaze’s meaning can be perceived as kindness, stoicism, lust, humor/whimsy, confusion, happiness, mistrust, frivolity, censure, love, etc. Or, perhaps, even stoic fatigue? (Richard Armitage right at a THAUJ juggernaut press event at Comic Con 2012, as shared by RA France from jassy2101 tumblr)
You name the emotional state and we can probably think of an example of such a Richard Armitage gaze—with the closer proximity of the face of the individual’s portrait seemingly creating a heightened perception of intimacy (vis a vis the smouldering Richard Armitage below possibly by David Venni in 2009; BW crop edit by Alana as shared by Laura, Thanks!; Grati sepia and blue eyes edit, right):
And yet, I realize that though I sometimes like the reflective or contemplative poses by subjects of portrait photographers—when the person being photographed turns away from the camera with eyes averted, seemingly lost in thought (again Richard Armitage, photographed by Sarah Dunn, via lovely Ann Boudreau wallpaper edits below, link for below right):
I find that I seek the intensity and honesty of a focused gaze in Richard Armitage portraits. And Richard Armitage gives me/us my gaze fix with great regularity (with a few of my faves below):
2013 (Laura edit) 2014 (from Cyn)
Richard Armitage loves the camera–and it loves him! And the selfies that Richard Armitage shares (below) really bear that out—his gazes conveying to me (left to right): seriousness, comedic flair (a vegetarian’s worst nightmare, a meat beard), calm, freezing (icicles on his beard) with a hint of smoulder (again, probably due to him freezing), and boyishness (oh to be the card). *wink* What messages do you perceive from these selfies?
But Richard Armitage has been so busy with his most recent project in filming his 10 episode EPIX tv series “Berlin Station”—set to debut in Fall 2016–that I and many other RA Fans/Admirers have been yearning for more recent 2016 pictures of him. We need something to tide us over until one of his completed film projects—“Pilgrimage”, “Brain on Fire”, “Sleepwalker”, etc.–are released.
And we were not disappointed when Richard Armitage turned up at at his most recent event appearance last Saturday, February 13, 2016 in Berlin, Germany at the Medienboard Reception (thanks to links by Fabolaktuko) looking dapper, dashing, and oh so elegant. THUD!
But the images had Richard Armitage initially—and for me frustratingly–posing facing away from the camera with no direct gaze (below with his EPIX tv show “Berlin Station” costar Richard Jenkins, left):
Though Richard Armitage is rocking his formal suit with wearing a double breasted vest/waistcoat (above)—elevating banker’s attire everywhere to heartthrob status—it is clear that his attention is elsewhere. I wanted to say “look back, look back at the camera”. Perhaps the photographer took this photo without alerting both Richards that he was taking a picture. I wonder if “over hear” was not yelled out by photographers at this event. Perhaps, the paparazzi are more polite in Berlin than seen and heard on other red carpets. Hmmm.
However, most happily, another more recently shared image from the event managed to give me/us the Richard Armitage recent gaze picture that I was looking for among the recent Berlin Medienboard Reception images–thanks to Noemi for pointing me to the cropped image of Richard Armitage only, which led me to Fernanda’s post (Thanks!)–with the uncropped image and with the link to the article in Variety (below) and the full image on Richard’s twitter feed with his “Berlin Station” costar again, Richard Jenkins (left):
Richard Armitage (above right) is giving a great gaze here—direct, with a pleasant smile, and relaxed shoulders—and he looks handsome and confident as he looks into/through the camera to me/us. Sighhhh! Purrrrfect! More images from the Medienboard event are archived at RAnet.
P.S. How about another selfie, Richard? You were playfully dodging the camera with your other “Berlin Station” costar, the lovely Michelle Forbes, and her selfie of the two of you (below)—though both of your smiles are heavenly. And though I do detect some bemused distraction on your part, I would say that you are being more playful and happy than contemplative here. *wink* You go, fella!
February 19 & 21, 2016–Thanks for liking this post! I’m glad that you enjoyed it! Cheers! Grati ;->
Carolyn, Hariclea, jholland, Esther, & Servetus
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February 19, 2016–Thanks for Simonne sharing a Richard Armitage image that is both charming and endearing:
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February 19, 2016–And now I’m reminded of Richard Armitage’s perhaps slyly sexiest “over the shoulder smoulder”. Sighhhh! *THUD*
P.S. Thanks to ShebaKay for sharing the image!
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February 19, 2016–Ooh! And here is another nice portrait shot of Richard Armitage at the Berlin, Medienboard Reception, as shared by Ella (Thanks!):
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As always love your blog and I cannot think of anything I enjoy more than talking about the many faces and poses of Richard Armitage. No matter how he poses, which way he looks, (beard/non-beard, suit/casual, smile/serious – I know you get me ) It just doesn’t matter! The camera loves him and he knows how to work a camera, no doubt about it. As for me, I personally love the “look in the lens smolder” so I can get into those eyes. Besides being an exceptional actor he is just exceptionally photogenic! Aren’t we lucky?? :)
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Hi Irish Witch, Thanks for your nice note! I agree with you about Richard Armitage being *camera friendly”. And he does smoulder exceptionally well! *wink* And he weaves stories for us as an actor and as a narrator that keeps us–or at least me–rapt with attention. Sighhh! Thanks for visiting and commenting! Cheers! Grati ;->
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February 20, 2016–Vale Armitagina (Thanks!) shared this extreme closeup portrait of Richard Armitage with another direct gaze–small smile, twinkle in his eyes, stubble and what might be longer hair (from Empire Awards 2014?). Sighhhhh!
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February 21, 2016–Here is another great Richard Armitage gaze with a brilliant smile! This image looks like it’s from the 2012 THAUJ press in NYC. Thanks to Armitagina!
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February 24, 2016–A 2013 BAFTA LA Tea Party pix of Richard Armitage smoulder gaze, via Laura (Thanks!). Sighhh!
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February 26. 2016–Ah ha! I was reminded of an earlier post that I wrote almost a year ago that dipped my toe into the RA gaze topic–it’s rather slim in terms of word count. Ha! But here is the link to my earlier post:
https://gratianads90.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/thespian-thursday-richard-armitages-gaze-is-melting-me-february-26-2015-gratiana-lovelace-post-709/
P.S. In particular, my earlier post above had been inspired by this Laura Day tweet of her 2014 Richard Armitage edit:
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
*THUD*
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