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In what seems like remembering back to a film I once saw, my visuals are hazy yet true. Last year I had the privelege of watching Ellen Von Unwerth in action. She strolled onto the set in designer safari trail wear and was down to earth and friendly as she greeted everyone, even my friend Sophie and I who were mere mingons set in the very background. Ellen had a team of young cool boys assisting her and they spoke so I needed subtitles to understand why they were always laughing.

In a world of many men dictating fashion, it’s amazing to see how a woman’s perspective on creating sexy images has prospered in the years. Known for her style of erotic femininity she has been published in all of the heavy hitters and has had six books published, so far. From Guess campaigns to a Playboy front cover to shooting mega Hollywood stars in intimate poses Ellen is an icon. I had no idea she worked on so many filmclips over the decades- Christina Aguilera’s 2006 Back To Basics, Britney Spears’ comeback album Blackout, Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope (1998), All Saints-Saints & Sinners, Electric Barbarella by Duran Duran in 1997 and Ain’t Nuthin’ But a She Thang Salt-N-Pepa in 1995. 

I tried to find even one image of Ellen from the ten years in which she was in front of the camera modelling. I found some tea stained comp card images but if anyone has seen her in action can you please send me a link. Curiosity did kill the cat.

“I love all the old pictures–of spanking and Bettie Page and corsets. But you can’t do spanking in fashion, so I wanted to do a project where I could really let go and get girls who also love those things.”–Ellen Von Unwerth on Revenge

Images: McFadden