I must have thousands of June Palmer photo’s, mostly from the 1950s, 60s and 1970s, from early Spick & Span shots to Harrison Marks and then Arthur Howell. If I thought about it really and had the time, I should have done a site dedicated just to June! Anyway, what are not so common are shots of June later in her career in the 1980s before she gave up modelling. Thankfully there are some around and below is one such little gem!
The Last Professionally Posed Picture of June Palmer.
This was the last image on the last film shot on 23rd November 1987 at a studio in Chelmsford at about 1 pm. How do I know this? Well it was taken by John W, who has supplied original June content for this site in the past, and he actually took the shot himself!
John started photographing June at Arthur Howell’s Strobe Studios in south London, which were advertised in the Amateur Photographer. These were group sessions, which cost £5 at the time. He also hired June for private sessions, which cost £40 for 2 hours, and continued to hire her at various times after Strobe closed, sometimes at Arthur’s house and sometimes at a studio in Chelmsford.
John took the last shot above in Chelmsford, and afterwards June told him she was going on holiday to the Bahamas and said she would look forward to showing him her all-over tan when she got back. She later wrote to him and said she was getting married again and was giving up modelling.
So the above became the last professionally shot photo of June Palmer … Wow!
I can’t thank John enough for sharing this shot with me, along with his own person insight into his professional relationship with June Palmer. As a big JP fan, finding things like this are very exciting and even more so to know the background behind it.
The Kamera Club 