Wednesday, December 15, 2010

A Model I Missed


It seems when I compiled my great models of the 1950s post I missed one. Tom Palumbo, the photographer subject of my last post (whom I just discovered passed away in 2008), was for a time married to the timelessly lovely Anne St Marie. Her look reminds me a little bit of Linda Evangelista's, her poise of Angelica Huston.
Palumbo's Flickr stream has a set devoted to his photographs of Anne and they are really breathtaking. Some of the images are so contemporary in their composition that they could belong to any decade.

I've tried to puzzle out a little bit more about Anne St Marie, but there's barely any information regarding her. She was Palumbo's muse and mother to his son, but apparently she had a love affair with fashion photographer turned movie director Jerry Schatzberg too. Schatzberg has said that Anne was also one of his favourite models - its not hard to see why - and that taped conversations he made with her, when she was undergoing a breakdown (there is some murmurings of issues with drugs and alcohol) were the inspiration behind his film Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970) starring Faye Dunaway.

I've never seen the film but it sounds intriguing; a once famous model recalls her glittering career as her world begins to shatter. Apparently it is one of Faye's best performances. Inspiration, of course, by no means implies reality (I really enjoyed The Social Network, but I'm sure great liberties were taken with the truth, whatever that may be), so I'd love to hear more about this beautiful lady, if anyone knows.

8 comments:

Penny Dreadful Vintage said...

Oh I have seen some of these pictures before but didn't know who the model was. The film sounds fascinating.

Kori said...

Amazing photos! MERRY CHRISTMAS HONEY!!!! Kori xoxo

Leah said...

Wow this is such a great post! And thanks for the movie rec.. I hope it's on dvd. Jerry Schatzberg's book 'Women Then' is definitely on my wishlist...

xoxo,
Leah

Anonymous said...

I can't say I've ever come across this model before but these photographs are simply stunning - what a beautiful woman!

what are they wearing now said...

Stunning photography with wonderful composition which was a real feature in fashion photography during the fifties and sixties. Notice the way she shows off the buttons down the side of her fabulous dress. Beautiful model too. Just love her eyebrow make-up.

what are they wearing now said...

Hi Louise,
Thank you for the post showing the pink dress I have for sale on vintageclothing.com.au
Glad to see you like it. I love the colour and the lace. Very classic and 'lady like'.
Regards,
Linda

ADOREDVINTAGE said...

Lovely post! And what a fantastic name she had! I love the last photo so much!

Amber said...

breathtaking photos. She is so elegant! Ah, to be so gazelle-like. Loving your blog!