Entertainment Feature: Top 20 Celebrity Portraits of 2016, By Photographer Joe Arce

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CHICAGO – The year 2016 was a dangerous one to be a famous person. In the past twelve months, one dozen of my former photo subjects passed away, celebrities who at one time or another famously posed for my lens. However, on a positive note, at least photos are forever. Or to quote the immortal words of Pee Wee Herman – “Why don’t you take a picture, it will last longer!”

The ranking of the portraits are based on a combination of the star power wattage of the subjects, the artistic results and the difficulty of landing the quarry…for those budding smart-phone-celebrity-stalkers who may wish to play along at home. So without further adieu, I present my top 20 celebrity portraits of 2016.

20. Peter Bogdanovich

Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Here’s to Peter Bogdanovich, who apart from Woody Allen is one of my all-time favorite directors. At the age of ten, with the film “Paper Moon,” he convinced me that even today things still always look better in classic black and white.

LOCATION/DATE: Chicago International Film Festival, October 16, 2016

19. Former First Lady Laura Bush

Former First Lady Laura Bush
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Former First Lady in a Permanent Wave
Happy Trails – “Our Great Big Back Yard”
50 yards –”Hey Down in Front!”
Secret Service makin’ it so hard

LOCATION/DATE: North Central College, Naperville (Illinois), sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop, May 16, 2016 (Promoting “Our Great Big Back Yard,” co-authored with daughter Jenna)

18. Lita Ford of rock group “The Runaways”

Rocker Lita Ford of ‘The Runaways’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Lita Ford has never “Runaway” from any photo challenge – she grabs it by the neck just like her trademark BC Rich Mockingbird guitar, and shreds it like a virtuoso. While she was promoting her book “Living Like a Runaway,” she was literally a rock star in front of the camera as well. Ask her to pose and she instinctively delivers it with all the glorious punch of her Marshall stack amps. Here she is demonstrating how a guitar goddess keeps her fingers warm.

LOCATION/DATE: North Central College, Naperville (Illinois), sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop. February 25, 2016

17. Rachel Skarsten of TV’s “Reign”

Rachel Skarsten of ‘Reign’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Every photographer has their fantasy muse, and in 2016 I just may have found mine in a former “Lost Girl” (her Canadian TV series). Through the lens, Rachel Skarsten just may be the fairest of them all. The statuesque 5’10” Canadian actress currently rules as Queen Elizabeth the First in the CW Network’s “Reign.” Two clicks of the shutter was all that was needed to capture her royal highness backstage at Chicago’s C2E2 Convention. Expect to see much more of Ms. Skarsten, my pick for “It Girl” on the rise. Long may she “Reign.”

LOCATION/DATE: C2E2 convention, Chicago, March 18, 2016