John d Green photographed Ingrid Boulting for Birds of Britain on 14 June 1966 at his Kensington studio. The image that appeared in the original 1967 book, shown here, was an inspired crop by John d Green, coming in tight on Ingrid’s face, presenting her framed by sunlight and stalks of corn, with the contrast levels cranked up high to put the emphasis on her mouth, eyes and nostrils. Scroll down and you will see the original full frame image – so you can compare and contrast the source image and the final result. It’s a magical, ethereal portrait.
It’s definitely in my top five.
Ingrid Boulting was born in Transvaal Province (formerly Transvall, South Africa) and is the step daughter of Roy Boulting of English film-makers the Boulting Brothers. At the age of fifteen Ingrid was discovered dancing at the Royal Ballet by the fashion editor of Queen magazine (now Bazaar) who launched her modeling career. Boulting was the iconic face of Biba Cosmetics on the 1968 poster designed for Barbara Hulanicki’s store Biba in London and was photographed by many of the top photographers of the era including Richard Avedon (in whose books she has appeared), David Bailey, Norman Parkinson, Sarah Moon and Irving Penn.
In 1976, Ingrid starred in The Last Tycoon, the last film directed by famed director Elia Kazan, written by Harold Pinter based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Hollywood novel The Love of the Last Tycoon and produced by Sam Spiegel.
She now lives in California and is an artist and yoga instructor.
