You look, but you do not see...

And now for a chapter titled ... Had I known or paid attention...

This was a few years ago, 'the' Cate Blanchett was in town for IWC, promoting the brand as she was the ambassador for the luxury watch. I was at the media preview at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, where they had converted the mezzanine floor to a lavish exhibition of over-sized photographs of iconic actors in black and white imagery.

A man was constantly by Ms Blanchett's side and I paid no attention to him as kept talking to her as I waved frantically like a howler monkey on crack to get her to look into the direction of my photographer.

We so desperately wanted a clear shot of the world's favourite actress (after Meryl obviously).

What I should have done was found a PR that night to get an audience with the gentle avuncular man who spoke at length that night. The one who has influenced so many portraits and art direction and layouts and style of the magazine I'd been working on for eight freakin' years.

The Peter Lindbergh.

Talk about missing the wood for the trees.

Kiss me Cate: Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and Peter Lindbergh in Hong Kong for IWC

"The" Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett, the faultless Australian actress and Oscar winner was in Hong Kong for a photo exhibition at the Grand Hyatt, hosted by IWC, and we - and I use the collective 'we' term - were mesmerised by her serene omfg-its-Cate-Blanchett-ness!

The exhibition was grand. Gorgeous large frame, black and white portraits by Peter Lindbergh hung on the mezzanine floor of the Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong, in a makeshift museum (long dismantled by now). 

Shot by the Italian harbour town of Portofino, dreamy images of Blanchett, Zhou Xun, Karolina Kurkova, Adriana Lima, Christoph Waltz, Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt hung in the labyrinth. Proving yet again that everyone looks better in black and white, every picture was... well, picture perfect.

The famed Lindbergh was walking around and chatting with guests at the exhibition, but generally left alone by the teeming masses as Hong Kong celebs were the cynosure of all eyes, while the legendary photographer walked around peacefully, unbothered 

Having arrived late to the event (traffic - Hong Kong-ers know why!), stylist Tasha Ling and I were told by one of the PR ladies, "Oh, you guys are so late - she's already late, but do look around." Waves of regret smacked us silly but we chose to walk around the nearly-empty [the papz and the riff-raff had left as soon as the stars did] halls.

...Mia Kang sporting IWC... something or another.

Delighted to find our new favourite model Mia Kang, and her tall comrades, who were booked to stand around wearing expensive watches and look pretty; something Kang does exceptionally well. 

They spouted PR spiel on the watches they were adorned with, but we were mostly interested in finding out if she was free later, or that weekend. No and no, was the answer. Well then...

Anyhoo, we did walk around and saw the stunning portfolio unfold before us, labeled "Timeless Portofino", there was a heart-breakingly beautiful shot of Emily Blunt with her hair flying just so, when... at one end of the corridor... there she stood. 

In all her Oscar-winning glittering glory.... Chatting incessantly with the photographer, and asking all the right questions (we assume - and we're sure - even her stance reeked of power and scorching intelligence - should such a thing be possible). 

Blanchett strode right by us and, had we been in any other state other then shock-and-awe, we would have yelled out her name in an embarrassing fan-boy-dom that I'm generally prone to [see earlier encounter with Sridevi, Monica Bellucci, Aishwarya Rai...er. etc.]. 

Oh Cate! Why so beauty?! As one would ask in the Kong...

 

With her scintillating performance in Blue Jasmine still fresh in our mind, there were so many things to be said to her; how freakin' marvelous she is consistently and versatile beyond belief, and questions we had about what it was like to work with Indian director Shekhar Kapoor in Elizabeth...

But all was muted as we stood there stunned by Kiss-me-Kate (pls!) Cate Blanchett.

Sigh.

Next time. Should security and divine interruption permit.

Rama