Arrangements were made and within a week or so, mother and daughter were at my apartment for Angelique's first ever photo session and my first official Hollywood shoot. They showed up with lots of wonderful outfits and accessories and Angelique's face was scrubbed clean and without a trace of make-up. She had just turned sixteen and had that kind of poreless, porcelain, olive-toned skin that only a young teenager with her Italian genetics could have.
I didn't have a make-up artist in those days but I did have a nicely stocked make-up kit and I went right to work getting Angelique all painted up for the shoot. After I was done with her make-up I started playing with her hair, pretending I knew exactly what I was doing although I'd never really done a woman's hair before. Didn't matter - I knew what I was looking for and I just kept fussing till I got there. It didn't really occur to me that I was neither a make-up artist or a hairdresser and barely a photographer at that. I was just thinking I could do this because I wanted to do it. So I did it.
When I finally turned the camera towards Angelique I was amazed by what happened. All of a sudden this shy young girl, barely sixteen, who'd hardly said two words since I'd met her, turned into the most ravishing, sexy young woman imaginable. She knew exactly what to do with herself; moving effortlessly and playfully through one sultry pose after another as if she'd been in front of the camera her entire life. I hardly had to say a word - it was all right there in front of me. I just had to keep shooting and try and keep up with her constantly changing tableau of expressions and attitudes.
When Angelique slipped on her mom's long, black leather gloves and rhinestone earrings, something magical happened and the picture you're seeing here is the result.
When I first moved to Hollywood in the fall of '83, I got a job working in a one hour photo lab in Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax. It seemed like a good way to stay in my field and earn a living while I was getting my photography business going. As it turned out, it was also a great place to find people to photograph. One day while I was eating lunch at Patsy's Pizza there in the market I noticed a shy, young girl behind the counter talking to Phyllis D'Amore whose father Patsy was a famous Hollywood restaurateur. Phyllis introduced the young girl to me as her daughter Angelique. We talked for a few minutes and then I boldly told them I was a photographer and that I thought they should let me photograph Angelique because she was so beautiful.
Before the shoot was over, I'd talked Phyllis into sitting for my camera as well and it immediately became apparent where Angelique had gotten her stuff from; Like mother like daughter. Almost twenty years later I still look at these pictures of Angelique at 16 and marvel at their beauty. It's no secret to me why models are pooled from the very young - their skin is still so flawless that it needs no softening or retouching and their awakening sexuality is impossible to hide. All of which makes for an amazing experience, both in front of and behind the camera.
