My Friend and My Muse

My second studio in Minneapolis was in the same building as a hair salon called La Boucherie. My friend, muse and favorite model Stephanie worked there in guest services. The salon was a great resource for me and it helped a lot that Stephanie worked there.

There were two weekly publications in the Twin Cities back then and La Boucherie wanted to place an ad for the salon in one of them. Stephanie had the idea of doing a shoot with me for the ad. I don’t remember having any formal ideas or even a layout. We just did what we always did. I know we wanted a close-up hair shot.

Steph came into the studio sporting a wonderful short cut. I had never seen her with such short hair. It really inspired me.

For this shot I used the natural light from the windows in that studio and a reflector. I used 35mm Tri-x film.

Stephanie

I consider this portrait to be a personal best.

Cheryl Nick is one of the best make up artists I knew then and to this day. One day she brought to my studio an extraordinary young woman who had beauty and drive.

Stephanie did Marilyn Monroe impersonations and was a very popular model.

All three of us worked together quite a bit until Cheryl moved to LA. After that, Stephanie and I continued to work together doing Hollywood-style portraits and some fashion.

The file of negatives I have of Stephanie is the thickest of anyone I have photographed.

For this portrait I used a 1K focusable spot on her face and a 500 watt spot on the background. To create the shadows on her face and in the background I used a combination of strips of foamboard and a plant I had in the studio.