Striking Vanity Fair Oscar Portraits From the Star-Studded 2019 Awards

Stunning Celebrity Portraits Captured at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2019

By Sara Barnes on February 25, 2019

She’s far from the shallow now. Oscar winner @ladygaga steps into the @markseliger portrait studio at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Feb 25, 2019 at 1:22am PST

The 2019 Oscars will be remembered as the year without a host, but photographer Mark Seliger is making sure we don’t forget the fashion. Working with Vanity Fair, he set up an Oscars Portrait Studio and invited some of the world’s biggest stars to get their picture taken at the magazine's party. The setting featured exquisite details like marble steps, a checkered floor, and an Art Deco-inspired window. Seliger played with the temperature of lighting and his subjects took advantage of the decorated space to create photographs that are as moody as they are stunning.

One of Seliger’s most striking portraits from the night was of Lady Gaga. The first-time Academy Award winner took home a trophy for Best Original Song for “Shallow” from the movie A Star is Born. In the Vanity Fair photo, she is lit with a warm glow that shines on her like the sun. Gaga clasps the statue in her hand and looks upward, eyes closed, as if she is just grasping the full emotion of her well-deserved win.

While Gaga is lost in reverie, Seliger snapped photos of other stars that are cool and contemplative. Employing purplish-blue lighting, one image shows Tracee Ellis Ross conflicted as she leans against a wall with her eyes closed, while another picture features Jon Hamm sitting at the base of the staircase appearing dejected. But there's more where that came from; see the full range of emotion captured in the Vanity Fair Oscars Portrait Studio, below.