DEFILING A CASTLE IN SPAIN
Not just any castle, but the castle — and not just at any time, but during the ultra-conservative Franco dictatorship. It happened this way:
The time was August 1964, and Richard Avedon had just finished covering the Fall Couture Collections in Paris for Harper's Bazaar Magazine. Following that he had a commercial job to do for a long-time client, Maidenform. They were still using their theme "I Dreamt I Was (whatever) In My Maidenform Bra," and this time they wanted the model to be dreaming about living in a castle in Spain. The ad agency had arranged to use the Alhambra in Granada under the guise of taking high fashion photos — and never revealing what the product really was. Now, the Alhambra is probably the most revered place in Spain and certainly could not be used to peddle ladies' undies. Especially not during the authoritarian rule of Generalísimo Franco when strict morality was enforced by the secret police.
So it had to be done on the sly.
Immediately after photographing the Paris Collections, Avedon and I flew to Madrid, then transferred to a decrepit old piston plane bound for Málaga on the southern coast. The flight was rough, and my hands were sweating. Noticing this, Dick assured me that we couldn't possibly die on any assignment this ignominious.
From Málaga we took a taxi up through the Sierra Nevadas to ancient Granada, where we checked into the elegant old Alhambra Palace Hotel, practically next door to the castle itself. There we met the model, who had come up from Torremolinos, and the ad agency account executive, Kitty D'Alessio of New York. A plan of attack was worked out over an outdoor dinner near the Generalife Gardens.
Zero hour was early the next morning as we had to be finished before the tourists arrived. A guard was assigned to "help" us, and he was the one we had to shake off. Our cunning plan went into effect. We began by "taking" normal fashion shots in the lovely Court of the Lions (photo, left), working slowly enough for the guard to get bored. I then asked him to do a minor errand in exchange for some pesetas, which would get rid of him for a few minutes. As soon as he was out of sight, off came the outer garments, revealing the forbidden bra. A few rolls of Ektachrome film were shot in Avedon's two Rolleiflexes before we heard footsteps. Immediately the outer clothes went back on and Dick resumed "taking" normal fashion photos. Finishing the fake pictures, he thanked the guard and we left.
Now for the getaway.
The naughty deed done, we had to get out of town quickly before the authorities found out and confiscated our film. Or threw us in jail. Dick and Kitty hired a cab to take them all the way to Madrid, a distance of some 270 miles. He also took the cameras and film as I was going on to a vacation in Japan and would not be back in New York for several weeks. I also hired a taxi to take the model back to Torremolinos and then me to the airport at Málaga. From there I flew to Madrid, then on to Paris and Tokyo. But that's another story.
NEW:
Photography's Golden Age ended long ago but remains very much alive in my memory. From 1952 through 1965 I assisted Avedon during his most creative period, and do I ever have the stories to tell! Now, atr the end of 2015, is the time to reveal all, while I'm still alive and kicking. Tales of personalities, motivations, intrigues, and even the fine details of just how it was all done.
What I need to make this a reality is a co-conspirator to aid in getting the whole, true, uncensored story published -- either as a book, an e-book, or even a documentary.
Anyone interested? Leave a comment and I'll get back to you.
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