In Search of Magazine Covers & Editorials

[BLtheKid]

I really hope you find it!

Thanks - logically it should be in the 19 magazines still left to look at in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan. Australia is my biggest hope because that is all English - the trouble is I haven't seen the photo since 2004 and the magazine I got it from since 1999 so I just can't remember for sure if the magazine was 100% English like just about everything else I ever looked at. I even briefly panicked and started to consider Italy and France but just couldn't see it.

If I had known at the beginning it was going to take all this effort on both my and others parts, I wouldn't have just proceeded without it. But after all that has been done - will have to see this through until the end and perhaps even revisit some of the stuff already looked at since the field has been narrowed to just 1999 as opposed to the 1988-2001 period I was working with originally. I've thought about many different magazines other than the ones I've ever mentioned here and just can't imagine in being in any of these other ones but who knows.

There are some people at Bellazon who might somehow know the photo though. I joined over there to ask for a model ID from an ad in Vogue Italia March 1984 and two people came back with her name in less than a day - Leah Jensen, who was never previously mentioned EVER either here or on Bellazon.

 

[mikel]

There are some people at Bellazon who might somehow know the photo though. I joined over there to ask for a model ID from an ad in Vogue Italia March 1984 and two people came back with her name in less than a day - Leah Jensen, who was never previously mentioned EVER either here or on Bellazon.

That sounds promising! Keep us posted.

 

[BLtheKid]

This is what I have left:

Vogue Taiwan (Feb)
Vogue Korea (Jul)
Harper's Bazaar Australia (Mar,Apr)
Harper's Bazaar Taiwan (Jan,Feb,Mar,May,Jun)
Harper's Bazaar Hong Kong (all 7 months)
Harper's Bazaar Korea (all 7 months)
Elle Taiwan (Jun,Jul)
Elle Hong Kong (all 7 months)
Elle Korea (all 7 months)
Elle India (all 7 months)
Marie Claire Taiwan (Jan, May)
Marie Claire Hong Kong (all 7 months)
Marie Claire Korea (all 7 months)
Marie Claire South Africa (all 7 months)
Marie Claire Singapore (all 7 months)
Marie Claire Malaysia (all 7 months)

83 magazines left. I've been resorting to looking at magazine covers to rule issues out at this stage (why would I look at a foreign magazine if I didn't like the cover?) and can still rule some of the above out (especially Elle) myself by using a great international covers archive.

37 issues of Marie Claire that have a very low probability of success but can't take the chance of not looking at them.

I'm dealing with National Libraries at this point but have been spoiled by the British Library and the National Libraries of Wales and Scotland that worked extensively with me in 2019, for which I would give a 10/10 rating.

Singapore is excellent and I am certain they will close Marie Claire Singapore/Malaysia.
South Africa is good and I believe they will close Marie Claire South Africa.
I am waiting for an initial response from Australia but they've only got 2 magazines so hard to see that being a problem. There is some possibility my photo could be here but it's not my best bet.
India I will probably be able to rule out based on the covers.
I've corresponded with both Hong Kong and Taiwan but it is not clear if they are willing to help. This is not good as both of these are reasonable chances for my photo.
Korea is a black box with no way to contact them via e-mail (there is an international number though). And with some possibility of my photo being here.

 

[Fiercification]

I really hope that you find the photo! I admire your determination...it has to be found somewhere. Good luck !

 

[BLtheKid]

I really hope that you find the photo! I admire your determination...it has to be found somewhere. Good luck !

Well, I went through and thought about everything for about the millionth time yesterday and figure it has to be in the 70 magazines that are now left. Logically speaking. On the other hand, odds are just as good that it isn't going to be here and that will be that. There's nothing else I can realistically do if I don't find it in what's left.

The frustration at this point is the sloth-like pace at the libraries in Hong Kong and Taiwan in particular - I just want the process to move along one way or another at this point. It looks like I am going to change my phone plan today so that I can make cheap long-distance calls to those two places and Korea (the latter doesn't even have a way to contact via e-mail) and find out what's what.

I may have to hire someone locally in these places to go into these libraries and get me the scans I need.

 

[BLtheKid]

I was reviewing the online Table of Contents (text only) for Elle Korea April 1999 in the National Library of Korea's catalog in the attempt to remove it from consideration and came across something related to James King...she appears to be the cover model of this issue. This is from Elle UK February 1999 and Korea probably used this same photo two months later:

I don't really like this photo so not sure why I would have picked up any magazine using it but all of a sudden I got a flashback and believe that the model I'm looking for isn't Claudia Schiffer...isn't Valeria Mazza...it is James King. And, I believe she was on the cover because I somehow knew the name of the model at the time and think the only way I would have known is because they list the name of the cover model. I also remember thinking how I hated the name. I guess she also uses the name Jaime King.

It is a good thing that I had this sudden memory because due to the tug-of-war I am having with these libraries in Asia, I have been trying to reduce the number of issues that have to be looked at in person by ruling a lot out based on their covers. And this is one I would have ruled out...but my photo could be in one of the magazines using this cover, of which I think there are a few...I may even ruled one or two of these out already.

I reviewed a 28 page thread on Bellazon for her and did not see my photo. This site has a 56 page thread that I just looked at the first couple of pages of so far.

We will see if this turns out to be a false alarm or not.

As a side note, is it just me or are the Marie Claire covers (with rare exception) not good at all? Mostly very dull and boring and they all look the same to me - at least that's how they were in the '90s.

 

[tigerrouge]

The James/Jaime King avenue sounds promising.

What I'm wondering is - while the UK Elle cover makes Jaime King seem glowing, in the late nineties she would have often looked like a Kate Moss waif type of model, and a lot of the work she did seemed to play up that 'heroin chic' little-girl-lost look.

When you mention Valeria Mazza, in my mind's eye, I'm seeing an elegant look with a strong commercial edge, whereas Jaime wasn't so sophisticated, she wasn't so much a woman.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is - going back to the original picture, what type of feeling did it have? Was it a sophisticated look or was it more bohemian? Did the model have the presence of being a woman or a girl? Would the image in the magazine have seemed perfectly at home in a European clothes catalogue, or was it the sort of image that could only have been produced by a high fashion publication?

 

[BLtheKid]

The James/Jaime King avenue sounds promising.

What I'm wondering is - while the UK Elle cover makes Jaime King seem glowing, in the late nineties she would have often looked like a Kate Moss waif type of model, and a lot of the work she did seemed to play up that 'heroin chic' little-girl-lost look.

When you mention Valeria Mazza, in my mind's eye, I'm seeing an elegant look with a strong commercial edge, whereas Jaime wasn't so sophisticated, she wasn't so much a woman.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is - going back to the original picture, what type of feeling did it have? Was it a sophisticated look or was it more bohemian? Did the model have the presence of being a woman or a girl? Would the image in the magazine have seemed perfectly at home in a European clothes catalogue, or was it the sort of image that could only have been produced by a high fashion publication?

Yeah, I am feeling pretty strongly that Jaime was the model. Never had the slightest inkling in 19 months of looking but all of a sudden today this added memory got added to the puzzle, which is kind of the next to last piece at this point. Famous last words though...

Here is a photo from Bellazon that I like - it's not exactly the same look as the photo I remember but not way off (I think I came across one that is closer but don't feel like trying to find it - it was actually somewhat of a torture looking through her thread because much of it was filled with 30 snapshots of a photographer catching her walking to her car or just at some sort of gala event - so incredibly boring...)

Anyway, when I try to fit her into my photo, I definitely can see it (even though it's been 17 years since I've seen the photo). Part of what saved me today was there was one fashion editorial in the Table of Contents that went from pages 224-231 and even though the description doesn't quite fit, it was somehow enough to make me think a little bit more about James King (she was actually mentioned earlier in the ToC under Cover Story or something like that). Because I remember the editorial being in either the 115-135 or 215-235 range.

1999 had a strong bohemian theme, which was one of the factors that (after about 16 months of looking) all of a sudden made me realize that my photo was in 1999 (slightly narrowed down from the 1988-2001 period). When you talk about a bohemian vs sophisticated look, you actually inadvertently hit on a bit of a paradox with this photo and editorial both. The photo was a mixture of BOTH. To my mind, while I love bracelets and bangles (as I will soon be presenting in a never-before-done countdown of the 27 best of all-time - with a contest element to try to encourage some participation), the bohemian look is too sloppy for me. But, this particular photo is bohemian yet sophisticated at the same time. Even the editorial is not a bohemian one, it's just this one particular photo (the narrative describes it as such); the theme is more like relaxing during the day (as per this photo) and then going into the city at night (it's more of a vacation getaway type of theme more than anything else). And then it closes with "Jaime" on a sand dune (which I could never picture Valeria fitting that the way I can Jaime now).

Coincidentally, there were a couple of editorials in Vogue UK July 1999 and I was convinced that was the right issue based on the Table of Contents descriptions and Christina from the British Library said that in one of the editorials it actually had something to do with a farm lol. And, guess who was in it? I came across this on Bellazon today too...the photo on the right is the one I'd seen before.

I'm content at this exact moment and may not do anything more on the search for the next day or two and just wait and see if I get any responses back from the number of libraries I'm waiting to hear back from.

I was going to call on the phone any or all of the Taiwan/Hong Kong/Korea libraries tonight but can wait on that for the moment as at least I'm maybe making some progress on my own. I just want to keep moving things forward and wrap this search up one way or the other.

 

[BLtheKid]

I've convinced myself that James/Jaime King is the model in my photo and she was on the cover of the magazine as well. She was only on the cover of one of the possible magazines (Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire) I think it could be in in 1999 and that was Elle UK February 1999 (that was already checked back in 2019).

There are only two possibilities left:

Elle Taiwan June 1999 - the Shih Chien University Library in Taipei (the only library I know that has this) is guarding any and all information surrounding this with such ferocity that I don't know if she is on the cover of this or not. Odds are she is not but this is still in play for now.

It looks like the 20 month search is going to come down to the magazine I referenced yesterday: Elle Korea April 1999 (pages 224-231). I think my photo is on page 225.

Here are the relevant parts of the online Table of Contents (translated) from the National Library of Korea:



320 pages overall, a bit of a worry as that's bigger than I remember.

I don't remember this cover story but the description is in my favor.

I don't love the description of the fashion editorial I think my photo is in but the page number is perfect (124-131 would not have surprised me either). I actually think the editorial starting on page 232 is a possibility also.

If I am able to get a scan of the real Table of Contents I think my photo might be there with a big 225 in the box with it.

I think this is ALL or NOTHING. Over 1700 magazines looked at, whittled down to 70...and now really just to this 1.

Upon further review at this exact moment, I'm going to lean toward "Basic Forever" being the first fashion editorial in this issue, which is how I remember it. The stuff in the fashion section before that don't appear to be editorials.

That final fact pushes me over the line to predict I found the right issue.

I temporarily changed my phone plan to allow me to make long-distance calls for next-to-nothing as the National Library of Korea does not have any e-mail addresses on its website that I was able to find.

I'm not going to be able to call tonight (6PM here = 10AM when they open in Seoul)...I may end up leaving it for Sunday night my time...in no rush now that the search is finally over one way or the other.

 

[mikel]

This is all so exciting!!! Can’t wait for the next update!

 

[BLtheKid]

OK, so after looking at over 1700 magazines over a period of 20 months, I finally found the photo I've been looking for (haven't yet seen it, but I'm 99% certain I found it as per the narrative above).

And so, the National Library of Korea (quite possibly the only library in the world that has it) has a copyright policy more strict than any other library in the world, in that they won't scan and e-mail me the photo (for a fee) like every other library in the world would do but the only thing they will do is make a copy of it and also be the one library in the world that will send it in the mail to me. And take a month to do even that simple task.

I am afraid to ask if the photocopy would even be in color or anything beyond the very worst quality.

I am about 10% satisfied in finally finding out all the details of my photo but this is hardly an encouraging turn of events, to say the very least.

 

[axiomatic]

Hopefully you'll have your answer, at least.

If you don't mind my asking, are you a researcher, librarian, etc??

 

[BLtheKid]

Nope, amazing as it may seem, I'm neither of those things...I used to work on Wall Street though (probably rare around these parts). This photo has been holding up the reconstitution of a physical collection that I used to have, which I was going to follow-up with a bit of a presentation (with a contest element to it to try to encourage some participation/interest).

As far as having my answer, it's only the tiniest solace, just better than never knowing. The collection isn't really complete without it, as it is one of my favorite photos.

The absurdity of the situation truly astounds me, that the library over there is all worried about some photo that no one in the world except for me even cares about. And it's not even North Korea we're talking about, it's South Korea. What is the point of having a library and trying to keep the contents secret?

I have ideas (such as maybe someone over there can take a cellphone snap of my photo) - there is someone in Seoul who might be able to do that for me (I'll have to run it by him) but he won't be back there until October. That's not ideal but maybe that would work.

I am going to send an e-mail to a librarian at the British Library who helped me quite a bit in 2019 and see what she thinks can be done, if anything.

I'd buy the magazine directly if I could but it seems very unlikely to me as though I could find it.

 

[veronicasawyer]

This is probably laughably vague but im looking for an editorial that feautured in the UK Glamour in the early 2010s.
It was a preppy, 60s inspired theme - lots of duffle coats, Margaret Howell - very Alexa Chung.
The model was fair skinned with dark hair and wore bow ties as bows in her hair.
Thought it was super cute!

 

[BLtheKid]

Bad news on the search...the National Library of Korea says that my photo was not in the editorial that I was nearly sure that it was.

That said, I'm still convinced that James (Jaime) King was the model because I remember finding out who the model was.

Am I right in presuming the models are only named in the magazine when they are on the cover? Meaning, with very rare exceptions, they aren't named or credited otherwise, whether that means in the editorial or being mentioned in the Table of Contents? In this case, she was in a normal editorial and she wasn't the subject of it.

Aside from FMD, where would I find a list of the covers that she's been on?

From the ones listed there, none seem like the magazine that I am looking for (she has a few Cosmopolitan covers that are a remote possibility but I am pretty sure that I looked at those issues already in 2019...the good thing on those is I can swing by the University of Arizona library where I live and at least check those easily enough. I'll probably have to do that just to make sure but I'll be shocked if the photo came from Cosmopolitan.

At this point, I am thinking the photo is just not going to be found and I am going to have to give up very soon. There really is nowhere else to look.

Unless she was on another cover (probably in 1999, but perhaps a year or two earlier) that isn't listed anywhere and that I haven't found yet.

 

[tomtakesphotos]

Looking for a 2007ish era set of photos from Inez + Vinoodh with MM paris that I believe was published in V magazine or possibly Interview/Pop-- it was new faces photographed in color with bare styling, I think no makeup/hair + simple styling, square portraits that were presented with photos of animals I think? The one sticking out in my mind is Kim Noorda but I remember them being very beautiful portraits, some of I+V's best. The images were simmilar to the before/after shots they did but, in color and with only new face girls, bare styling.

 

[mikel]

Looking for a 2007ish era set of photos from Inez + Vinoodh with MM paris that I believe was published in V magazine or possibly Interview/Pop-- it was new faces photographed in color with bare styling, I think no makeup/hair + simple styling, square portraits that were presented with photos of animals I think? The one sticking out in my mind is Kim Noorda but I remember them being very beautiful portraits, some of I+V's best. The images were simmilar to the before/after shots they did but, in color and with only new face girls, bare styling.

I think you mean their story from the Summer 2005 issue of V Magazine.

 

[vogue28]

It’s from the Summer 2005 issue. You can find scans of the entire issue over at vfiles.com. Just search for ‘V Magazine Summer 2005’.

You were the first one I thought of @[B]mikel[/B], when @[B]tomtakesphotos[/B] was asking about old-school I&V!

 

[mikel]

You were the first one I thought of @[B]mikel[/B], when @[B]tomtakesphotos[/B] was asking about old-school I&V!

Thanks Vogue28

VFiles used to have scans of all the V back issues. But I see they’ve changed their site so you can’t access their archive anymore

 

[aracic]

VFiles used to have scans of all the V back issues. But I see they’ve changed their site so you can’t access their archive anymore

It's blasphemous what they did to their website, I miss the old VFiles so much.