Who's That Girl?, Yes, 914 Content Options

[Osnabruck914]

I have always wondered who this girl in this 914 promotional photo was (don't tell my wife (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)). I think I have seen her in other 914 ad photos, but she doesn't strike me as being "model" quality; so I'm wondering if the Pfennig-pinching Porsche execs just decided to use an off-the-shelf employee for the photoshoot. The car's plate indicates a Ludwigsburg registration, site of many of Porsche's administrative offices and parts warehouses at the time. Was she a clerk or secretary at Ludwigsburg or was she the wife or daughter of a big-wig? Who knows, it might even be her personally owned 914. If she is still around, I'd imagine she would be about 75 years of age now. It would really be interesting if she could tell her story....

Osnabruck914

[wonkipop]

ludwigsburg may as well be a suburb of zuffenhausen / stuttgart.
next town along.

hard to know who exactly did the photoshoot.
it could have been erich strenger who handled the vast majority of the graphic design, promo material at porsche. but the photo really doesn't look to me like his eye at work. hard to know.

i think photoshoot was at Backnang-Heiningen Airport.
small grass airfield not far from ludwigsburg/zuffenhausen.
used for gliding i believe.

some google earth shots.
taking note that google earth uses wide angle panoramic cameras which tend to push depth of field right out and the 914 photoshoot looks to me like the photographer used telephoto lens to compress depth of field.
and street view does not extend into the little aerodrome.
the clue is the range of hills in the background. B-H airport is sited with a range of hills in the background and is still today in a rural setting.




i don't think strenger's eye is behind the view-finder.
we have some old prints of material he shot in the 60sl ying around the workshop.
i am not sure how much of the actual photography at the time was done by strenger or whether he farmed it out and concentrated more on layout and design of print material.
but it was definitely what you call conciously artful. often made use of a lot of compression in the photo and a very close foreground object.




but your theory regarding models is probably correct.
but i would not characterise it as penny pinching.
if strenger did oversee this work his models would have been carefully chosen depending on what was intended to be conveyed in the shot.
he sometimes used models with a classical beauty (glamour) - at other times he was looking for the unusual to convey a sense of the everyday.
he probably searched for local models. possibly from an agency, or off the street or even amongst social circles.