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‘Ford Archive Project.’ Courtesy of Patty Sicular.

Patty Sicular, Bel Aire Advertising, lighting test, 1978. Courtesy of Patty Sicular.

Patty Sicular has lived an enviable life. As the Co-Director for- IconicFocus  and IconicFocus Models, she has navigated her way throughout the fashion world, working with some of the best and brightest artists in the industry. In 1980 she joined Ford Model Agency working closely with agency founders Eileen and Gerard W. “Jerry” Ford. During her nearly 30 year tenure, Sicular worked concurrently at Ford Men (1980-1983), Ford Women’s High Board (1984-1985) and Ford II, Classic, Plus, Parts, Archives (1986-2010).

Patty Sicular (center) with Eileen Ford (left) and model Allison Walton at the Ford’s home in Califon, New Jersey, c.2006. Courtesy of Patty Sicular.

In 1995 Sicular was made a Vice President where she held the role for fifteen years. Her proficiency in fashion history extended far beyond the world of modeling. Sicular has been involved in numerous exhibitions honoring fashion photography and design including The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,  the J.P. Getty Museum and The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.

Ford Men, staff photograph, 1980. Courtesy of Patty Sicular.

In this audio clip, Sicular discusses growing up in Port Washington and her career in fashion.

Dina Mori (cover model), Seventeen Magazine, December 1958

A Port Washington native, Dina Mori was a teen model active in the fashion industry in the late 1950s. Mori discusses how she was discovered by famed Hungarian fashion illustrator and photographer, Jerry Plucer-Sarna and his wife, model Giangi and her early life and fashion career:

“My photo fashion model career was truly a happy, lucky accident and adventure. I was discovered while being a ‘Popover Girl’ at Patricia Murphy’s Restaurant, after school by Hungarian photographer Plucer and his wife, model Giangi. They gave me the telephone number for ‘Plaza Five Model Agency’ and told me I would  be very photogenic. The next year, I called and they sent me on my first job at ’Seventeen Magazine’ which was a cover shoot in Florida. It was all very exciting, and that experience established me immediately.

Dina Mori (model) for Judy Bond (fashion) by Robert Irwin, 1956

Audio excerpt: Dina Mori talks about growing up in Port Washington.

Fernand Fonssagrives (1910-2003) Saut et Bateau (jumping with boats), Lisa Fonssagrives, south of France 1937, first published photo of a two piece bikini

“a photographic print is a wonderfully rich and nuanced visual object”

Collecting photographs, like most other rare and fine art objects, brings with it a range of experiences and benefits. There is of course the pleasure to be taken in the object itself, in this case the photographic print. From the texture and unique materiality of the paper, to the subtleties of tone and value that can be registered in the printing process, a photographic print is a wonderfully rich and nuanced visual object. Collecting is a way of intensifying one’s interest and fascination with the image and the milieu in which it was created. There is also the unpredictable and exciting experience of putting different photographs in conversation with one another via the act of collecting, something which is unique to each collector.

Melvin Sokolsky, Bubble on the Seine, Paris, Harper’s Bazaar, 1963

As uncertainty plagues the international markets with an ever-greater frequency these days, a sound and durable investment can seem a hard thing to come by. The art market, and more specifically the market for photographic prints, has been a resilient one. The appetite for vintage and modern photography as a collecting category, continues to grow since it is a more accessible – and often more affordable – medium, compared to paintings and sculpture. It’s much easier – and less expensive – to own a masterwork by a well-known photographer, vs. a painting (or even a drawing) by a painter of equivalent stature.