Louise Dahl-Wolfe’s Women – Three Lives

Louise Dahl-Wolfe worked with some of the greatest fashion models of the 20th century. The images that resulted have endured across time. But the stories of the models themselves have largely gone untold. Taking three of Dahl-Wolfe’s most important muses and lifelong friends — Liz Gibbons in the 1930s, Betty Threatt in the 1940s, and Mary Jane Russell in the 1950s — this talk will explore how notions of beauty changed across the photographer’s long career, and examine the critical contribution models make to the creation of the fashion image. Drawing from unpublished memoirs and personal correspondence, the talk will also offer a new perspective on the photographer’s own fascinating life story.