Thursday, September 07, 2006






In September 1985, Vancouver Magazine editor Malcolm Parry assigned me to take pictures of 4 young women and one man who were interviewed by writer Les Wiseman on how they stayed thin and what were their diets. Four of the women made it to the October article called Hold It Right There. These were model Kate Davitt (in red), Pappas fur heiress Daphne Pappas, aerobics instructor Dana Zalko and Olympic Gym fitness instructor and bodybuilder Carla Temple (with Greek columns). Parry told me, "The less they wear the better." I told Zalko that Temple, her main competitor, was taking it all off so Zalko complied. I told Temple that Zalko was going to pose nude so she agreed, too. Model Davitt had no problem but Pappas and Temple's paramour, Mike Hamill, objected. Parry dropped Hamill (but seen here, top right) from the lineup and when the magazine considered how much money Pappas Furs spent in advertising with the magazine I was told to photograph Daphne Pappas with a fur coat. A few years later I was assigned to photograph a very pregnant Dana Zalko. We tried the diet photo but it was obvious that the same angle was not going to work so we did something else. Here you can see the rejected pose. Kate Davitt was a pleasure to photograph and I will never forget her daily regimen. For breakfast she sipped tea. For lunch and dinner she had Triscuits, cheese and apples. Nobody ever figured out (since it didn't run) that my photo of Mike Hamill was a rip off of George Hurrell's Johny Weismuller.

As a post script I read recently in the Vancouver Sun that the CBC was selling its Burnaby warehouse. I remember that warehouse fondly. Editor Parry, art director Chris Dahl, and writer Les Wiseman, all helped me man handle the "Greek" columns into a truck from there.