Ron Galella October 7, 1971: New York – It was late in the afternoon, around 4:30pm, and I finished photographing a model, Joy Smith, who needed pictures for her portfolio. I wasn’t getting paid for it, so I thought I might as well shoot in Central Park across from Jackie’s apartment in case I would get lucky – and I did! Upon leaving the park, I saw Jackie leaving her apartment on 85th Street, heading toward Madison Avenue. Joy could not believe it was Jackie! We were behind her at 85th Street and Madison Avenue. Jackie made a left going north. I decided not to run in front of her, because if I did she would have put on those dark sunglasses. So, we hopped a cab to catch up to her so she couldn’t see me. “Follow that woman”, I told the cab driver. She paused, turning at the corner of 91st Street, when she heard the honking of the taxi driver horn. I shot from the rear cab window to capture my favorite, most published photograph of Jackie. After getting out of the cab, she spotted me and immediately put on her sunglasses. I then handed Joy one of my cameras with a wide-angle lens pre-focused to 15 feet. I told her to get the two of us together. Both Joy and I were clicking and laughing until Jackie, furious, turned to me and said, “Are you pleased with yourself?” Well, I knew then to stop, and said “Yes, thank you!” This is my favorite photo because it captures the qualities of the paparazzi style: off-guard, unrehearsed, spontaneous – the only game. The dramatic, soft backlighting, and over-the-shoulder composition show her at her sexiest. She was casually dressed, wore no makeup, and her hair was windblown, which all added up to natural beauty. Da Vinci has his Mona Lisa, and I have my Windblown Jackie. It all happened within 15 minutes! •
Ron Galella (b. 1931, The Bronx, New York, USA) started his career in the US Air Force. After returning from Korea he attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and graduated in 1958 as photo journalist. In his spare time he started photographing stars attending premières. This became his true passion.
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Windblown Jackie, 1971 © Ron Galella