Greta Garbo

I've for a long time been fascinated by Greta Garbo. She was born just over 100 years ago in Stockholm, and she lies buried there now. She spent most of her life in the United States though, first living on the West Coast, then in New York. Her life seems to be a long series of contradictions. At some point she was probably the most
famous face in the world, while at the same time she was always trying to protect her privacy. She is known for some relationships with other famous people, but she spent all her life living alone. For a while she was the most photographed person in the world, and then she spent the greater part of her life running from the cameras. The more I read about her, the less I seem to know.

I saw five of her films at some point, and was fascinated by this woman. She looked beautiful but unapproachable. The films are very dramatic, beautifully designed and shot. My favourite was and is Ninotchka, because it is fun, and because it is the most timeless of the films. Some of the others are very much of their time.

A few years ago I visited Stockholm and I went to visit Garbo's grave at Skogskyrkogården. It's a beautiful cemetery, very green and spacious. I wandered round there on my own for a while, and ended up at Garbo's grave. It's a simple site, but spacious and green, like the whole cemetery. You can sit down there and enjoy the quiet, be really alone. I wasn't completely alone though, out here I saw my first ever pied flycatcher. It sat on a branch near the gravestone, and was absolutely stunning. It is such a beautiful little bird.

I started collecting some postcards and photographs round that time too. I saw a picture of her, an old postcard, which I bought and then found some more. She looks different in all her films, and some images are absolutely perfect. The picture I like best isn't a postcard, as far as I know, it's a still. Beautiful though.



And some of the postcards are stunning too. She looks different in all: