I spent some time reading up on her--was not familiar with her work. I do like the moodiness and look she was after. She did it as a sort of rebellion against the orthodoxy of her time, and to get away from the herd. She was obviously successful. While I'm following a different path by using antique gear and hoping that creates the classic look I want rather than darkroom (or software) manipulations, I think I may share some of her motivations.
Kent in SD
I understand where you are coming from, regarding the lady. I've also read quite a lot about her during the last few years, and I am not entirely convinced by much of what's been written. A lot that's available appears to be selective rewriting of what's gone before, especially where she gets bunched into a threesome with Newton and Bourdin as being some sort of trend-setting/-breaking group. I think that's pretty contrived history because even a casual knowledge of the era will produce a host of names just as likely or not to make the same cut as photographic stylists. A problem with all of this is that not a lot was written about fashion/commercial photographers until relatively lately, and that puts us in the position where we have little access to reliable, then contemporary material about them. Photographer as hero wasn't always the case, and perhaps only a handful of them ever became true household names with literature to match; Avedon; Penn? Trying to unearth anything much about Guy Bourdin is an example of how difficult it can be to know about some of the then famous. For some reason nobody mentions Sarah Moon in these comparisons; I wonder why?
Both Moon and Turbeville embrace(d) a very similar ethic of femininity; they share the love for old locations and the slightly spooky look - kinda fin de siècle to 20s/30s they and their models combine to produce. I believe that rather than
adopting a look, these artists are simply doing what they have to do: staying true to the romantic sense they are born with and just have to accept. It strikes me that nobody could reasonably be expected to have faked it for an entire career, and both women are no strangers to old age, one alive and the other not. I think Turbeville made eighty-one.
In a broader sense, I think both women share the ability to tell stories without words or, should that be, make the viewer believe that a story exists where only a mood exists? Making a mood materialise out of nothing is pretty damned clever - for any photographer! Most of us fail completely, showing no more than what is plainly visible. Also, I think that both Moon and Turbeville tend to use people often outwith the model agency world. Perhaps, being actresses or dancers, these alternative models have a different physical input that depends on projection of what's internal rather than just being a beautiful face.
Anyway, I'm happy you felt interested in following it up with some research!
Rob