Jean Shrimpton (Part II)

Shrimpton was prolific as a model, which made my task of editing the images all the more difficult. I could not resist another posting. These images say so much about her milieu. Incidentally, Karen Gillian (of Doctor Who fame) is to play Shrimpton in a BBC drama about the infamous love affair with photographer, David Bailey in the 1960's....

All images via here

Jean Shrimpton

Penzance, or 'Holy Headland' in the Cornish language, is where my husband, 13-month old daughter and I once spent a special night in a Georgian Gothic hotel with views across to St. Michael's Mount. Dating back 400 years, the distinctive sky-blue Abbey Hotel is chock-full of antiques, books and gilt mirrors - rather like staying in a grand and slightly eccentric English home. The owner just happens to be... Jean Shrimpton.

The Shrimp, as she was known (a nickname which she loathed), was said to have represented the 'coltish, gamine look of the Youthquake Movement in sixties swinging London'. That retroussé nose, doe eyes, aristocratically arched eyebrows and naturally pouting mouth defined the look of the day.

Shrimpton still owns the hotel and has done so since 1979. It is a wonderful place to stay, and naturally I was desperate for a glimpse of that elusive face. No luck that time, but these images are penetrative enough to suffice, for now...

Photographer: David Bailey 1963

Thanks to here for an extraordinary bank of images...