In the mid sixties there came an invitation from Twen magazine to fly to Munich where I would work with the legendary Willy Fleckhaus, editor/art director/typographer and co-founder of the publication.
At the airport to meet my plane from Africa was non other than the graphic genius himself – the man responsible for moulding the journal that defined the sixties and eclipsed all competition.
On our way to the editorial offices I was told that the main feature would be a comparison between traditional Bavarian costume and Sixties fashion. That was more or less it. Oh, also that Mr. Fleckhaus would not be present at the shoot. I was to art direct it myself. This trip turned out to be full of pleasant surprises but the best was still to come.
On the morning of the first shoot my driver told me that the studio was located a little North of Munich. While motoring through snow covered fields I was trying to visualise what the studio of such a cutting edge magazine might look like. When we pulled up outside a nineteenth century Bavarian farmhouse I was still wondering but soon all was revealed. The ground floor contained stables that served as winter quarters for the farmer’s cattle. We were greeted with friendly cow sounds and a smiling farmer’s wife proffering hot scones and coffee. She then took us to one of the stables that housed not cows, but paraphernalia for making photographs. An abundance of wonderful clothes, playful models and a welcoming visit from the magazine’s star photographer, Will Mc Bride, made my days in the stable quite memorable.
The black and white spreads tells a little story of how I discovered the student Ginny, daughter of a Westpoint-officer father stationed with the American forces in Germany and a Viennese aristocrat mother. We were strolling in the Brienner Strasse when I said “hello, will you model for me please?â€
To read more about Willy Fleckhaus – see these links: The Art Director’s Hall of Fame and a site dedicated to his typography and the Namen der Kunst biography.
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