Photo of the Day

A distinctive look

January 9th, 2010 by Paula Bray

This striking silver gelatin photographic portrait of Australian model Maggi Eckardt by David Mist captures an ‘ethnic- inspired’ exotic Eastern fantasy look. It shows Eckardt sporting self-styled make-up and accessories, but a fantastic professional hairstyle created by Xenon, the talented Double Bay hair stylist who later moved to the United States. The model’s well-oiled bronze torso brings a special sculptural quality to the photographic print. When the print was exhibited in the Inspired! Design across time exhibition in 2005, the model recalled how time-consuming the shot had been to create as false eye-lash glue had to be used to keep each of the curls in place on her skin. Taken for David Mist’s Made in Australia book of 1969, the print has been drawn from the Museum’s David Mist photography archive which also contains 72 related 35mm black and white negatives. Eckardt’s distinctive features and striking make-up, including long black false eyelashes, made her one of Australia’s most eye-catching models during the 1960s.

Photography by David Mist
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Post by Anne-Marie Van de Ven, Curator