"A South African black man exposes in his own pictures and words the bitter life of his homeland today

    

    Arguably his greatest single work, ‘November Girl’ published in 1967, continues to exert a powerful and widespread influence on the world of glamour, fashion and art photographyTo celebrate his genius with the elusive ingredients of model, lights, studio and darkroom – here is a selection of images from ‘November Girl’. This was the culminating title in the figure trilogy from the sixties, ‘Five Girls’ (1962), ‘Cowboy Kate’ (1964) and ‘November Girl’ (1967). Along with ‘African Image’ also published in 1967, November Girl saw the high water mark of Sam’s pioneering creative work with black and white photography in the sixties. African Image pushed the envelope with book layout harder than November Girl, it was Sam’s book layout magnum opus but in terms of photographing a nude model in the studio November Girl remains unsurpassed to this day.One of Sam’s stylistic signatures was the use of simple ‘easily-to-hand’ props. A black raincoat from Macy’s, a set (which of course he built) made to look like a bohemian loft in Paris (one of the reasons, no doubt, why the French are so in love with ‘November Girl’), a simple cotton scarf, odd postcards and collectibles from his home.

    Victoria's enthusiasm and talent for photography wins her parents' approval to practice this art even though photography is deemed an unwomanly profession in 1881.