sophisticated Shelley in a test shot
taken by her then live-in boyfriend
photographer Steen Svensson, early '70s
Shelley graduated from Smith College in 1970 and decided to take on modeling full-time. Represented by the top model management company, Ford Models Inc., she began her transition from teen model to top model (and eventually to Supermodel.) Her then boyfriend, photographer Steen Svensson, and make-up artist extraordinaire Rick Gillette came up with test shots of Shelley in the early '70s in the hope that the images could get her into the pages of Vogue. Rick Gillette recently featured one of those test shots on Instagram (let's hope he features the rest of those early test shots) with the caption that read:
"In the early 70’s before “Charlie”, before “Charlie’s Angels” Shelley Hack was an ex-teen model looking for a more sophisticated look to get her into Vogue. I was creating a portfolio with the same goal in mind. This photo is from a test shoot we did with Steen Svensson, a wonderful photographer and friend gone to soon RIP. I’d love to share his entire contact sheet, there are beautiful shots of her looking hotter than any I’ve ever seen published. The fact that they were living together at the time certainly turned up the heat."
