I’ve previously teased you with these glimpses of the Marc McGreevy ABBA portraits: first in a carousel, and then with snapshots of the gift Marc sent me at Christmas – my very own Marc McGreevy x ABBA mug! So I thought it was about time you had the chance to take a long look at these two Marc McGreevy portraits.
In other posts I’ve written about Marc McGreevy, I have focussed on his fashion illustration work, but Marc is well known for his portraits too. When I proposed this collaboration to Marc, it had not occurred to me that he would be inspired to create portraits of ABBA, and so I was completely unprepared for the emotional impact I felt on first seeing these images.
Once my heart had stopped pounding and reached what I would guess would be an acceptable number of BPM, I realised also that these images were going to allow me to pay tribute to someone who played a key role in ABBA’s success: their videographer Lasse Hallström.
Hallström developed some wonderful signature moves with ABBA. He would pose the different members of the group in full face and profile combinations, and shoot close-ups of their mouths as they sang the hooks to the hits. It reflected that ABBA were a group of four individuals, each as integral to the band’s success as another, each member irreplaceable.
In these portraits Marc has captured the band’s chemistry with one another, and their chemistry with Hallström. If you look at the image that opens this piece, Ann-Frid is gazing at us from beneath her centre-parted tiger-brown fringe with a characteristic gaze that Hallström captures again and again in ABBA videos. Eye contact Anni-Frid style is like the slow blink that a cat will treat you to as a sign of showing love. The slow blink begins as a stare that could be perceived as a challenge, but then softens into the ultimate sign of feline trust and confidence: a display of vulnerability in the languorous and deliberate closing of the eyes.
Let’s consider Agnetha, Björn and Benny, as portrayed by Marc McGreevy in a moment directed and caught on camera by Hallström. Again, it’s all in the eyes. Let’s look at Agnetha first, (because it’s damn hard to look away from that perfect composition of blue shirt, golden hair, and blue eyeshadow). Agnetha is regarding the camera, Hallstrøm and us with that most un ‘pop’ of expressions: a frown. Sceptical, bewildered, puzzled, cross, questioning … a frown can signal any of those emotions – but it’s not an expression that girls and women are usually encouraged to have in their repertoire.
Agnetha frowns so beautifully that her eyes take the shape of scalene triangles. It’s a revelation. When I was growing up, frowning and pouting were very much considered to be things that young ladies didn’t do. Random men (it is always men, I’m afraid: horrible ones) are still given to throw a ‘cheer up love, it might never happen!’ at any woman passing them on the street, who is happily lost in her own thoughts and ignoring them. ‘Turn that frown upside down’, ‘the whole world loves a smile’, and the most pernicious scold of all: ‘frowning will give you wrinkles!’ All of those cliches are aimed at a ‘live, laugh, love’ suppression of real emotion in favour of saccharine sentiment and a ‘mustn’t grumble’ faux-jollity. A frown is a powerful signal, because a frown shows that you are thinking. A big Hip Hip Hurrah! for Agnetha, flying the flag for thinking women everywhere! And for Hallström, who recognised that a frown can be a powerful and beautiful thing, not a reason to re-shoot seeking an inane grin instead.
ABBA Week! is almost over and I have hardly mentioned Björn and Benny. This isn’t because of lack of interest – it’s because of lack of time!
When I was 19 a friend said to me: “If the world held an ABBA fancy dress party, you would be the only one in the room dressed as Benny.” This is true. I would be proud to attend a party channelling Benny, accessorising with a thin scarf around the neck (the kind of gentleman’s scarf that Spook and Fancy-Fancy wear in Top Cat), and an amused twinkle in my kindly eyes.
Seeing Björn and Benny at the ABBA Voyage press conference, Björn fielding aggravating questions with his customary tact and diplomacy, and Benny shutting down aggravating questions with his customary quick-witted bluntness was so reassuring. Never change, Björn and Benny: keep growing older with the same charm and straightforwardness you’ve always shown, and which I think you can see in Marc’s portrait.
Lasse Hallström went on to direct films, including the Very Good Indeed My Life as a Dog (which I urge you to watch if you’re part of ABBA’s younger cohort of fans, like my lovely cousin T.) My Life as a Dog came out in the UK at roughly the same time as modern French classic Betty Blue. The latter film is also Very Good Indeed, but writing this up has made me wonder if I was primed to fall for its crazy-passionate love story because of all the hours I spent absorbing Benny and Anni-Frid’s love affair – all giggles, meaningful glances and quick grabs caught by Hallström’s camera. Maybe. I was definitely primed by ABBA to look for real emotion in all my relationships … and people who didn’t mind me frowning.
The two illustrations in this post are the work of Marc McGreevy and the copyright is his.
- Find Marc McGreevy on Instagram here and explore his website here
- Find ABBA Voyage on Instagram here and ABBA on instagram here
ABBA WEEK! will conclude tomorrow with a NEW and as yet unseen artwork by Marc McGreevy – don’t miss it!
