suomynona said:

donnyenglish said:

Sadly, he doesn't look well in the photo, which is to be expected given that he was a sick man.

He was 57 years old.

Google "57 year old man" and go look at images.

When Prince wasn't covered in make-up, he looked his age -- especially close-up. And with bright lights.

Now... imagine this 57-year-old man working the entire night before.

Forget for a moment that it was Prince -- much less that he had aged MORE than TWICE the age he was when Purple Rain the movie came out.

Make a note today. When you're 57-years-old, go on stage where the lights are blinding with hardly any make-up at all. Stay up the entire night before.

Then pull up a photo of when you were 26-28 years old -- in the prime of your life. And then look in the mirror and remember the words you posted here today. Think about what others see when you leave your home that day. Do they see the person you feel you are still? Or do they see a 57-year-old -- or someone they assume is older. It sucks. But it's just how it is.

Prince was 8 years from becoming a senior citizen. You saw that when you were front and center at his shows in 2013. He had aged, regardless of what anyone thinks.

Getting older should be a great thing for everyone, but all you see is ageism commercials on television. You see women (and men too) in their 30s getting botox and plastic surgery and they don't even have their first wrinkle.

Not an attack on anyone -- but folks should think about this when they see photos of him and wonder if the way he looked as a 50-something-year-old man looked the way he did was due to drugs, or lack of nutrition. It was a lack of make-up combined with a lack of sleep. Period. Prince worked himself to death. And his body couldn't keep up with him. It is as simple as that.

We should be thrilled that he was with us as long as he was. He released more records than most artists do in 4 lifetimes. Toured more than most artists too. Let's leave it at that, rather than trying to make sense of something that NO ONE knows the answer to.

I don't think anyone is criticizing the way Prince looked in this picture or any other photo. He aged amazingly throughout the years. But, he does look different in this photo. He did basically narrowly escape death a few days before the photo and actually did die shortly after the photo. In retrospect, I can see that he was not well in this photo. This has nothing to do with him aging or how pretty or handsome he looks. This photo is different from any photo that I have ever seen of Prince and it hurts my heart.

[Edited 6/30/16 7:16am]

suomynona said:

MMJas said:

Personally I think he looks beautiful in this picture. No photoshop, not retouched, just a natural looking and beautiful 57 year old man. <3

I was referring to the OP's now edited post where the photo was squeezed -- turns out not by photoshop, but by this website so that it would fit on this page.

That is why I deleted it because it was distorted and I didn't know how to fix it. I'm glad someone posted a proper photo.

wouldntulove2loveme said:

He DOES look like he should have been in bed in this pic, rather than doing a concert. I totally want to give him a hug and tell him to go rest before I crack him across the head and knock him out.

But also, he looks like a 57 year old man. I don't know why people assume all 57 year olds look like dried up prunes or whatever, bcause they don't -- sometimes they look like Prince.

But then, maybe I'm used to the people in my family, who generally have this kind of aging process: far gentler than you might expect, all things consider.

Where can you see the other photos from this session? (other photoso are mentioned in one of the responses here).

He looks a little teary, and he looks triumphant yet weary and resigned. There is also elegance and strength ... "Take a picture baby, I ain't got time to waste..."

When talent, destiny & opportunity line up - fcking WOW. just LOOK AT THE INSANE BEAUTY.

He looks like he is struggling to take the photo. Our Prince has always been so strong, but here he is clearly weak. Sad. I wish someone could have helped him.

Blakbear said:

From that photo of Prince, I was reminded of some images of the ancient Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten.

No agenda other than interesting observation here:-). I've thought before that Prince looks/ looked a bit like the images of this guy, who was probably Tutankhamun's dad.

They both even wore eyeshadow!!

He looks like someone who has SEEN things (and, remember, he'd had his near death experience just a few days prior)...It's almost as if he is gazing through - and beyond - the corporeal person taking that picture.

Am I reading too much into it, based on hindsight? Maybe...But, say what you like, there is a 'not of this Earth' wisdom and serenity in those eyes.

Bunsterdk said:

tbag said:

Honestly, to me he looks "pill high" in this pic. I've seen this look in people that abuse pills/painkillers. I call it "zombie eyes" - kinda spaced out, walking dead look.

If you saw the picture when it first came out (pre-death), then why didn't you say anything then? Why didn't ANYONE say he looked stoned or pill high when this picture first came out? It's because he doesn't. You and everyone else are imagining things with hindsight.

Blakbear said:

I have not seen any other photos from this shoot, but some have said that there were other photos. I also did not see this photo until after he passed away. I don't think that it was ever posted on his twitter, but I could be wrong. It seems to me like this shoot was likely a promotional shoot for Yamaha because Prince almost never does any photos where a logo is showing. Maybe this was part of the deal for the piano and part of a bigger marketing campaign by Yamaha. I remembered reading something about Prince being close to a deal with them.

[Edited 6/30/16 10:17am]

He looks like something is wrong but other than that he looks good for 57...I mean Black dont crack and I have to give it to Prince he worked the hell oughtta 57. I do feel that his 57 though probably felt like 87 considering all the things he put his body through over the years just to perform for us and that makes me sad.

Everything about him looks good, his hair was perfect, his skin flawless, his makeup done well, but his normally bright expression eyes which he has always used well, aren't well, and I think it's intentional as if he's not even trying to mask his feelings.

Bunsterdk? You stated what I was thinking. Could it have been that he had just recently lost his dear friend Vanity? I know I have a couple of friends that if I got notified they had passed on, I would not exactly be a bright cheerful person for a while either.

pnv said:

Bunsterdk said:

It's not his age at all that I'm thinking of. Actually he doesn't nearly look his age here, and I'm 51 and have many friends that age to compare with. It's the expression in his eyes that get me. Something has happened. Could be bad news, doesn't have to be anything major going on with him personally, but he looks so very, very sad.[/quote What happened? I'm sorry and I know this is off topic and I will be criticized but the death of Denise Vanity Matthews is what happened.

morningsong said:

Bunsterdk said:

Blakbear said:

Teamwork, eh? I'm pretty quick when I have to be, but maybe a little teamwork would be good. I get the feeling that sick or not, Prince was fast as a Ferrari. Lol

0-100 in the blink of an eye seeing two determined females approaching.. LOL

Lol lil dude would teleport into the stratosphere.

But then, I got really good at catching cats trying to escape -- once I even managed this with one who was getting an iv in her arm that wasn't taped down yet. And I managed to keep the iv perfectly aligned.

I'm just sayin', I got skills with the quick and the restless.

On topic, though, whoever mentioned that this pic was right after Denise died, that really does ring true. Someone he knew died -- I had totally forgotten about that. It's a logical explanation for why he looked sad.

He probably hadn't completely processed that.

Blakbear said:

steakfinger said:

Bunsterdk said:

morningsong said:

Everything about him looks good, his hair was perfect, his skin flawless, his makeup done well, but his normally bright expression eyes which he has always used well, aren't well, and I think it's intentional as if he's not even trying to mask his feelings.

That's the impression I get as well. Like he's letting us see a vulnerability that we have hitherto not seen. Or not often anyway. He is very, very beautiful, especially his eyes. But the sadness/vulnerability is immense.

I agree with both of you.

steakfinger said:

laytonian said:

That's not an official photo. It was taken by an audience member.

It's horrible, because of the strange lighting at that concert (colorful balls bouncing around everything).

It looks offical to me and probably taken by Justine Walpole.

I thought the very last offical photo taken was this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEfuzsiKv52/?taken-by=justinewalpolephoto

Miles said:

Miles said:

From that photo of Prince, I was reminded of some images of the ancient Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten.

No agenda other than interesting observation here:-). I've thought before that Prince looks/ looked a bit like the images of this guy, who was probably Tutankhamun's dad.

They both even wore eyeshadow!!

Ha, I thought I was the only one.

I always thought that Prince looked like Akhenaten and King Tut and I was amazed when I found out that he had the same fascination with them the I had.

rap said: