Photographer, gatecrasher, New Wave pioneer: the large life of Ruth Orkin
From sneaking into balls with Dior and Dali, to installing floodlights in her flat, Ruth Orkin would stop at nothing to get the perfect shot
24 January 2021 • 12:00pm I felt like Beatrice walking through the streets of Florence Ruth Orkin s American Girl in Italy, 1951
Credit: Bonhams
On September 3 1951, Count Carlos de Beistegui held a costumed ball at the Palazzo Labia in Venice. A swarm of gondolas brought a thousand guests – among them, Christian Dior, Salvador Dalí and the Duchess of Devonshire – who arrived in a spume of powder, feathers, boned silk and gold leaf, and proceeded to cut loose until six in the morning.