And, lo! I found Veruschka
Unseen photos of Vera Gottliebe Anna Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort
On the other side of a dusty window, at the top of the building that housed Marvel Comics UK, was an old photographic studio. Nobody at Marvel had seen the studio or the photographer, and I was intrigued to know who he was. By chance I got chatting to a chap I’d often see on the stairwell, and discovered that he was working as an agent (or assistant) for the elusive photographer.
A few months earlier, in October 1985 I’d had a double page feature in a magazine called Camera Weekly, and high on the excitement of having my photographs in print, I asked if it would be possible to show my portfolio to the photographer, as I was keen to get a critique of my work. He said he would ask him, and to my joy I was invited upstairs one late afternoon.
I was introduced to a charming elderly gentleman with a hint of an Australian accent. His name was Alec Murray, and his studio was equipped with a lighting setup from a bygone era. It became apparent that he was in the middle of a purge, and was throwing large black and white photographic prints into a sack. He stopped what he was doing and carefully looked through my portfolio, sticking yellow post-it notes onto the pages he thought I should show. This was exactly what I needed, a constructive portfolio review, with helpful advice from a professional. After he’d finished, I thanked him for his time and before I left, asked if I could have a quick look at the large fashion photos that were sticking out of the sack. He said if I liked them, I could have them, in fact as I was heading back downstairs, he said to take what I’d like to keep, and throw anything else into the skip on the street below. At this moment I had a strong feeling he was planning to retire, which was why he was throwing so much away, but I thought it rude to ask.
I excitedly went back next door to my office at Marvel so I could sort through the prints, but as I was pulling them out, I noticed a whole load of medium format colour transparencies beneath them. I started to spread them out on my Lightbox, and to my amazement recognized some famous personalities and fashion models. There was a photo of one-time James Bond, George Lazenby, modeling a yellow sweater, portraits of Martine Beswick, who’d starred in From Russia with Love, photos of Salvador Dalí's muse, Amanda Lear, and a photo of a young fashion designer called Zandra Rhodes; but the greatest discovery of them all for me, was a set of photos of Veruschka, the six foot German aristocrat, model, actress and artist, who was considered to be the first German Supermodel.
Veruschka was known to me from her appearance in Blow-Up, (seen above) possibly my all-time favourite film, and inspiration for my own foray into photography. Most of these abandoned images were from the late sixties and early seventies, and appeared to be outtakes from various fashion shoots. Studying these with my magnifying lens was an experience akin to time travel.
Alec Murray was born in Australia in 1917, and had moved from Sydney to London in 1948 to become a highly respected fashion photographer for Vanity Fair, Tatler, Queen, Paris Match and other magazines.
When I first started searching for his name in the early days of the internet, there was only one mention, but as time passed, more information came to light. I discovered a retrospective of his work entitled 'Alec Murray Album' featuring ninety photographic works of his, shown for the first time at the National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, NSW, Australia in 2001, and the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in Victoria in 2002. He also has work in both, London and Australia’s National Portrait Galleries. Alec Murray passed away on 11 July, 2002. By my calculations he would have been 68 when I visited his studio.
Veruschka
One of the prized possessions on my London bookshelf is a book called Trans-figurations, featuring Vera Gottliebe Anna Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort, otherwise known as Veruschka. By collaborating with artist Holger Trülzsch throughout the 1970's they created some classic image manipulations years before Photoshop was a twinkle in anybody's eye, by using her body as a canvas to create chameleon-like transformations and then photographing the results. Innovative for its time, to say the least. Veruschka was more recently seen in the James Bond film Casino Royale.
There’s a video on YouTube showing some of the transformations, but because of the nudity I can’t post it here. I can however, add this LINK.
Above: Soundtrack for Veruschka - Poetry of a Woman (Original title: Veruschka - Poesia di una donna) 1971 - 1hr 32m. Fashion photographer Franco Rubartelli's lush and moody film about European supermodel Veruschka.
As someone who’d regularly buy fashion magazines throughout the seventies, I’d often see ads for Dormeuil, so when I scanned this transparency (above) it became instantly recognizable as an outtake from the following 1972 Tonik advertisement.
And below, another of Alec Murray’s Dormeuil ads featuring Veruschka, from British Vogue, 1974.
Blow-Up
Blow-Up (1966 - 1h 51m), was Michelangelo Antonioni's first entirely English-language film and starred David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave and Sarah Miles. Model Veruschka von Lehndorff was featured as herself, and Jane Birkin made her first film appearance. The film's music was scored by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock (credited as Herbert Hancock ), and the English rock group The Yardbirds gave a performance in one of the scenes. The cinematographer was Carlo di Palma. The Criterion edition of this film is highly recommended.
Original Blow-Up Trailer from 1966.
A nicely edited Trailer by C Files with music by Herbie Hancock.
Veruschka, Safari dress by Yves Saint Laurent, 1968 by Franco Rubartelli. I took this photo at the Icons of Style exhibition at the Getty Center in 2018.
I’ll finish up with another of Alec Murray’s transparencies of Veruschka. Pretty good quality considering I photographed this one with my iPhone and a window as the light source!
I’ve spent many years buying and collecting photographs, ever since I discovered an archive of original Barbarella prints that I posted about a while ago. I may well post some more from my collection.
Also… I think Alec Murray deserves far more recognition for his photography. Please spread the word!
Brilliant! Great story, great pics and the Transfiguration video is fabulous. That kind of body-painting is common now, but I imagine that was a very early example. Also, I must watch Blow Up again. I haven't seen it for about 50 years. It was a recent film when I saw it, but I remember it being ground-breaking in its style. The fashions were a bit dated in the early 70s, but if I see it again I expect to be overwhelmed by a sense of fond nostalgia.
Fantastic post today. This was all new to me! Some great images.