The news today is that the great actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away.
I first saw her live at a White House function she was attending with her husband Senator John Warner, during 1980. I was working at the White House as a staff photographer and was posted on a scaffold in the back of the East Room along with the press corp for the event. I was scanning the crowd and couldn't believe it when I spotted Taylor as she turned to talk to someone. I lifted my camera with a 200mm lens and focused in on the back of her head. At that instant, she turned fully around and her face filled the viewfinder. She flashed a big smile to whoever it was she was talking to, I snapped the photo, and the sight of her, literally, took my breath away! I was never a person who was overly enthralled with beauty, thinking that what lies within is much more important. But I realized that day that I had never come face to face (and so close up!) with such beautiful perfection in the form of a human face. It was a surprisingly powerful encounter and, as a photographer who enjoys visual surprises, just a delightful experience.
