Pamela Green

Pamela Green

The multi-talented Pamela Green may be an relatively unknown model by today’s standards (especially in America,) but she came out of the gates strong and remained strong for four decades. Both as model and later as production assistant, photo retoucher, business manager and many other duties to support both her husband Doug Webb, and Harrison Marks. She mainly posed under her real name, but has been also attributed as Rita Landre and in one shoot as “Princess Sonmar-Harricks” (Kamera No. 26) where she is either painted or got a really good tan.

From Nostalgia Publications:

“There is no denying the obvious visual talents of the beautiful Pamela Green, one of the most popular of all the Harrison Marks models, but she was also a very talented artist. Pamela Green has been kind enough to supply us with some fascinating reading covering the time she became a professional model and below we have reproduced just some of the many anecdotes that she sent us. We hope one day to use lots more in some kind of publication, so watch this space. “My actual modelling career started in 1948 through a mistake in booking me as a figure model for the life class at St. Martin’s School of Art in London where I was a student on a three year course Fashion Drawing. At the time I only posed for the Costume and Fashion classes for which I was paid the princely sum of 4/6 (23p!) an hour. I did this to help pay towards my school fees as I was not on a grant. This was because there were two Art schools in my area in Kent, I wanted St. Martin’s as they were the best. The day of my initiation into nude work happened by accident. I was called at short notice to fill in for a class where the model had failed to show up. The master was waiting impatiently. “Hurry up and get undressed, we’re late”. This was a life class. A quick look around the room showed me that the students were unknown to me as was the master. I thought “Well, there has got to be a first time”. I undressed behind the screen, and slipping on my coat walked to the rostrum. The master took my coat, helped me up and asked me to strike a pose. I stood facing the class, legs slightly apart with my weight on one hip. I have never felt quite so naked standing in front of about 20 students. After about 15 minutes I began to relax a little, everyone was concentrating on their drawing and by the end of the class it seemed the most natural thing to do. I collected my money from the office and discovered that I was paid more; five shillings instead of 4/6. I decided to begin modelling for the life classes, though when I posed in front of my fellow students I was told that I blushed, starting at my knees and slowly spreading up my body. I had joined a small band of very young models who were all posing for the necessities in life, like their next meal. I was the eldest of the group at seventeen.”

Soon after she started modeling for the camera.

“One day a friend of mine said, ‘You know, if you work for photographers they pay you a Guinea [21 shillings, or a pound and 1 shilling] an hour.’ So I thought, ‘Well, that’s a bit better’, so I went up Greek Street and I found a photographer called Douglas Webb and I banged on his door and I said, ‘Are you interested in figure models?’ and he said, ‘Well yes, let’s have a look first.’ So I undressed and he took some photographs. I did a sitting for him with a lot of white lilac, which I remember he’d nicked out of his mum’s garden (laughs). His mum was not best pleased.”

All went well until it came time to sign the release form for the session. Doug Webb noticed a particular article of clothing Pam was donning.

“He said, ‘What are you putting on?’ I said, ‘My school scarf.’ He said, ‘Good God! How old are you?’ I said, ‘Seventeen’.”

Doug informed Pamela of the need for parental permission for such work. This, surprisingly, turned out to be no problem, as Pamela’s folks trusted her better judgment.

“I don’t think she [her mother] minded in the slightest. My family were very open. I mean, there was no shame about nakedness. My father was a very good artist, and used to love drawing nudes. He eventually did a wood sculpture of me in the nude and it was just one of those things. She trusted me. She said, ‘You wouldn’t do anything silly’, and in those days the photographers were very straight – they were very good – there were no problems ever.”

On the photographer’s side of it, Doug relates his memories of how it was back then:

“There was never a written law laid down on the age of a model to pose for photographs, only the age of consent, which at the time we are talking about was twenty-one. The legality of a model release signed by a minor who was under the age of twenty-one would be the only problem if the picture was published without the permission of the parents or legal guardian. It was possible to publish photographs of naked children, and indeed to take them without restriction, perfectly legally.

“To give you some idea, it is the custom of people of Greek and Indian origin to have their children photographed completely nude, whatever sex, to show everyone that the child is without any blemish, and complete with all limbs, fingers and toes. How they get on now I don’t know, because no photographer would be able to take these pictures. There was never a law that defined what was permissible. The police would initiate a prosecution and the case would be judged by a magistrate under the Vagrancy Act of 1604.”

That fortuitous first session led to much work for Pamela with Doug Webb, a number of camera clubs, other top photographers such as Bertram Park, Angus McBean, John Craven, Zoltan Glass, Bill Brandt and Weegee, commercials and fashion house “corset work” or undergarment modeling.

“The fashion models were a bit ‘iffy’ about this and didn’t want to do corset work. It wasn’t quite the thing, but if you did corset work, you got paid two Guineas an hour, so it was very profitable.”

That was during the day. At night, Pamela performed in a number of “Folies-Bergere” type reviews. At one casino she worked as a nude, stand-in dancer. Stand-in dancers did just what the name implies, for a dancer at that time wasn’t allowed to actually dance in the nude.

“Nudes were not allowed to move on stage in ’47 or ’59.” Pam wrote in a letter, making her point emphatically. “Move, and they closed the show.”

Doug Webb and Pamela married in 1967 and stayed together until his death in 1996. Besides Doug, her next biggest collaborator was photographer Harrison Marks. She worked with him for the first time in 1953. She was the one came up with the Kamera Magazine idea and essentially ran the magazine for its run, including all the business work, finding models, and getting the magazine published. She of course also posed for it, and helped other models learn to pose.

Unlike Bettie Page, the other most popular model from this era, Pamela was forward with her career including multiple interviews with the BBC. She also corresponded with fans and sold reprints of her photos to them.

Magazine Credits

1955 – Sun Bathing Review (Spring)(Cover Model)
1955 – Sun Bathing Review (Summer)(Cover Model)
1956 – Sculptor’s Model
1961 – Practical Photography (August)
1963 – Cocktail (Cover Model)
1964 – Midi-Minuit Fantastique No.8 (January)
1980 – Escort – Special Collectors Edition (December)(Harrison Marks reprints)
1985 – Fascination No.27 (French) (Stills from 1960 movie Peeping Tom)
1995 – Eros Vol.3 No.3
1995 – Pamela Green Glamorous Elegance (Cover Model)(French)(Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Bandit
Unknown – Bounce
Unknown – British Figure
Unknown – Champagne (Two unnumbered editions) (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Collection of Harrison Marks Pictures No 3. (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Études Moderne
Unknown – Femme No. 2 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Femme No. 4 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Femme No. 5 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Femme No. 8 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Femme Fatales (July)(Cover)
Unknown – Fiesta Special Collectors Edition: Top Glamour Models of the 50’s. (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Foto Studier No.10 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Harrison Marks Kamera Glamour Guide 1
Unknown – Helen (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – In Focus 3
Unknown – Just Pamela Green (multiple issues)
Unknown – Kamera 5
Unknown – Kamera 8
Unknown – Kamera 9
Unknown – Kamera 14
Unknown – Kamera 16
Unknown – Kamera 17
Unknown – Kamera 18 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Kamera 19 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Kamera 20
Unknown – Kamera 21
Unknown – Kamera 22
Unknown – Kamera 25 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Kamera 26 (Cover Model)(As “Princess Sonmar-Harricks”)
Unknown – Kamera 27 (Cover Model)
Unknown – Kamera 30
Unknown – Kamera 31
Unknown – Kamera 35
Unknown – Kamera 38
Unknown – Kamera 41
Unknown – Kamera 44
Unknown – Kamera 45
Unknown – Kamera 47
Unknown – Kamera 50
Unknown – Kamera 51
Unknown – Kamera 58
Unknown – Kamera 64
Unknown – Kamera 74
Unknown – Kamera Classics 1 (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Kamera Classics 4 (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Kamera A Selection of Studies (Cover Model)
Unknown – Kamera Special No 2
Unknown – Modelstudier No 72 (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – On Location Classics 2 (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Pagan 12 (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – Photo Studio 1
Unknown – Pose and Poise for Art Students (Cover Model)
Unknown – Sarah (Harrison Marks reprints)
Unknown – She
Unknown – Solo 13 (As Rita Landre) (Cover Model)
Unknown – Solo 20 (Cover Model)

Acting Credits

Glamour Films:
1960 – Art for Art’s Sake
1960 – Cover Girl (Appears fully clothed only)
1960 – Xcitement
1961 – Gypsy Fire
1961 – Naked as Nature Intended
1961 – The Window Dresser
Unknown – Chimney Sweeps
Unknown – Midsummer Night
Unknown – Witch’s Brew

Feature Films:
1960 – Peeping Tom
1961 – Naked As Nature Intended
1961 – The Day the Earth Caught Fire
1965 – The Naked World of Harrison Marks
1967 – Casino Royale
1975 – The Legend of the Werewolf