William Bell’s Notebooks
We have discovered three notebooks which Bill started early in his career.
A decade of jobs
He kept a scrupulous log of photo shoots in a classic “University Notebook” beginning in 1958 and continuing through 1968. He numbered each shoot. described the client or assignment, and named the models. While he created a column for dates, that is rarely entered. However the consecutive order of entries gives us an approximate idea of when each shot took place.
Log of models and jobs from 1957 through 1968.
A transcription follows:
(Anne) St Marie DuPont – fur coat – gold mottled lavender background
Angela Howard Thom Defoe (Betsy) Pickering Vogue foil stretches background
St Marie Experimental Toro Matador
Woodbury Still Life
Sunny (Harnett) DuPont – white suit
(Dolores) Hawkins Hockaday – Jantzen bathing suit
De Foe Vogue-cover-foil background 2 1/4×2 1/4
Hockaday – 2 swimsuits white and blue
Hawkins, Sunny Experimental heads 2 1/4x 2 1/4
Ann Mo** Revlon Test
Johanna McC, Sunny DuPont – 2 teal sweater – 1 white
St Marie Experimental 2 1/4×2 1/4
Nenna Hockaday sportswear
Anna Karin Foil rolls – checked suit dress
Anna Karin Hockaday – Jantzen – pink bathing suit
De Foe DuPont – teal sweater
Johanna Leigh Gussow Herman Blouse & skirt foil background
Klein DuPont – Blouse and skirt
Hawkins, Angela Howard, Sandra Church Vogue – lingerie – great background
Technical information
He devoted two flip notebooks to descriptions of camera settings, positioning of models and sets, use of lighting, reflective devices and surfaces, and positioning of mirrors and see through silk screened plexiglass.
Again, these notebooks begin in the late 1950’s and reveal his increasingly unique and sophisticated development as a photographic pioneer.
