HARTMAN'S 'INCOMPARABLE WOMAN OF STYLE'

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'INCOMPARABLE WOMEN OF STYLE'

Story By: Rose Hartman, WEST VILLAGER for over 45 years
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INCOMPARABLE WOMEN OF STYLE




"It takes a few seconds to get the images, plus 35 years of experience! "my 'INCOMPARABLE WOMEN OF STYLE' photo book'.



For the past 35 years,I have thrown myself into a male-dominated profession where I had to be strong enough to avoid being pushed aside and screamed at, blocked from a subject, or just plain harassed. 



Of course, there were many exceptions. Invited to drink champagne in a Park Ave duplex with walls covered with Sergeant paintings, or have lunch with Lady Kingsley (wife of the illustrious Ben Kingsley) in their gorgeous home in a tiny English village, or enjoy a dinner of greens plucked from designer Zandra Rhodes London terrace come to mind…And being privy to those intimate situations (in addition to those annual high-energized galas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or at the Plaza) enabled me to capture the empresses of style, those women who live and breathe style along with extraordinary careers or important charities (the ladies who lunch are definitely not included in my pantheon of women who I wanted to capture.)----and produce a second book, 'INCOMPARABLE WOMEN OF STYLE' (ACC EDITIONS, NOV. 2012); my first book, 'BIRDS OF PARADISE: AN INTIMATE VIEW OF THE NY FASHION WORLD was published by DELTA BOOKS in 1980). 



It was definitely time to edit my archives, Whether the incomparable model Carmen, who at 83, fills advertising pages, or the idiosyncratic Betsey Johnson, the fabled Catherine Deneuve at a film party at M.O.M.A., or the all-powerful Anna Wintour.



I chose 132 images of women who have fascinated me for years (and whose careers I have documented for several decades) to fill the pages of my photo book.My most memorable image,Nicaraguan beauty, Bianca Jagger (and on international best-dressed lists), was shot at her birthday party at Studio 54 in 1977. What I remember most is dancing the night away, then grabbing my cameras (non-automatic) hidden in the club's gigantic speakers, and dashing over just in time to see " Lady Godiva" dismount from a white horse, and Bianca, dressed in a timeless Halston pose for a few seconds in front of an amazed crowd of jet setters, Mick and Baryshnikov DANCING, and, as the NYTIMES reported, "'IT WAS THE SHOT SEEN AROUND THE WORLD."




For a visual feast, do get a copy of 'INCOMPARABLE WOMEN OF STYLE'' at Rizzoli, Potterton, or via  sales@antiquecc.com

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