This was from a shoot for the LA Times Magazine I did during a brief stint living in downtown Los Angeles. For a year I sublet a large loft space in an artist building just a few months after graduating, my first and last traditional photo studio. It was pretty raw, with no real walls or doors, my bed on the floor in a corner and the majority of the space set up for work. I had a view out the back of the train tracks and it was close to little Tokyo which was going through a resurgence of sorts.
I shot this on a very overcast day, purposely under exposing it by a stop then pushing the film to get this high contrast grainy effect. The model is Pam Piper, in town from NYC and her beautiful skin and unusual eyebrows made her one of my favorites. I worked with her quite a few times over the years. The suite was by Valentino and was one of the most expensive clothing items I'd photographed on a model at that point.
A scan of an enlarged "dupe" is all I have left of this shoot. Sadly, a lot of the originals of my fashion work are MIA. Not being diligent about getting them back from magazines, poor organization of my files and even throwing some stuff away during big moves are the main reasons I've lost so much of it over the years. Thankfully I was a bit more careful with my celebrity work.