The best book of John Willie photographs was published in Paris in 1985: Plusieurs Possibilitieés: Les Photographies de John Willie. When I first looked through it a group of photographs struck me immediately, partially because of the angularity of the poses, partially because of the model’s appearance.

That model was John Willie’s Doree and the photographs that were shown were taken in late 1958 or early 1959 in Los Angeles in Willie’s house in West Hollywood. I believe Doree was a secretary at an aircraft factory who also worked for Willie in the evenings helping out with his photography sales. She appeared in a group of sets at that time and then appeared in more sets starting later in 1959, this time partially nude. These later sets were Doree (B).

After the cut I’m posting some of these early Doree photos that I have that I still find captivating.

The following photograph is from a different set but shot at the same time. It incorporates the unbound woman theme that first appeared in Willie’s 1930s Australian photographs.