When I Was A Photographer - When Cryptogee Met Corinne

I met Corinne Day on the same night I met Chris Eubank and unfortunately on that night I had three rolls of film stolen from my jacket pocket, with the only surviving roll being in my camera.

It was an after show party in fashion week at the St. Martin's Lane hotel. I chose to show these pics not because they are high quality (they're not), but more because Corinne Day who was so important to photography died in 2010.

I didn't know it at the time but this would have been not long before, or around the same time that she was diagnosed in 1996 with an inoperable brain tumour, which she and her husband kept secret until 2009. I'm not totally sure, however if you look in her left eye you can see what may be the tumour, as sometimes these things can be highlighted by flash photography, however as I said I'm not entirely sure this is the case, though to me it is still sad as she may well have known in this photo about the tumour.

I had met Corinne a few times, I didn't consider her a friend, but we hung out in the same circles and she was a really good pal of a friend of mine a fellow photographer called Vinca Petersen.

History

Below from left to right Vinca Petersen, Jade Jagger, Corrine Day, unknown

Corinne Day was famous for discovering a 15 year old Kate Moss and putting her on the cover of Vogue, in what was then an antithetical shot to the fashion industry.

Instead of the high glamour and perfect make-up which was synonymous with cover shots at the time. She presented Kate as a raw and vulnerable girl, with no makeup and simply dressed.

The picture would spark the grunge look, later to become known as heroin chic. It was that term that prompted Kate's agent to forbid her to do any more shots with Day.

Despite that Kate and Corinne remained great friends until her death in 2010 at the age of 48.

I never really got to know Corinne that well, however she always seemed like a very sweet and humble lady, she shunned the limelight and was happiest behind the lens and I was very sad to learn of her death eight years ago.

Cryptogee