What is it: a 1965 cover of Harper’s Bazaar

Designed by: Ruth Ansel,

An image of: Jean Shrimpton

Photographed by: Richard (Dick) Avedon

 

This cover (and issue) of Harper’s Bazaar is one of Ansel’s most popular and well known. Not only is the cover striking and eye-catching but the backstory is also interesting. Originally, the photo of the model Jean Shrimpton was shot with her wearing a snood hat. Nobody liked the image, the hat did not photograph well, and the deadline was fast approaching. It wasn’t until the wee hours of the morning (2 a.m. to be exact) that Ansel got an idea. She cut pasted a hot pink paper cut-out to cover up the unimpressive hat. This became the “space-age helmet, in a telling display of the pioneering originality that defined her career” according to an article from Harper’s Bazaar. In an interview with Index Magazine, she noted this issue as “the one she worked the hardest on” and “the one that reflected who she was (as a designer) at the time. It has her influence of rock music, pop art, and space-age technology of the ‘60s.

 

Sources:

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/bazaar-art/news/a38138/bazaar-flashback-ruth-ansel/

http://www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/ruth_ansel.shtml  

Image Source:

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/bazaar-art/news/a38138/bazaar-flashback-ruth-ansel/