Although June Palmer was often associated with George Harrison Marks, there was another partnership less well known. That of June Palmer and Arthur Howell, the man who both discovered and married her. They were together for about ten years and together ran Strobe Studio in Clapham, London.
She began by working for a local camera club. When asked how she got into nudes, she said "One night they asked me to take everything off and I just did it." Her precise age at this time is unknown. What is known however, is that she began modelling professionally for Harrison Marks while she was still 17 and that HM very nearly decided not to use her. He said that she giggled so much through the test shoots that he found her almost impossible to work with. Fortunately, perseverance prevailed, and the team of George and June became one of the most successful in all glamour photography.
According to Fiesta magazine, the partnership was not confined to business, and the two "almost married". The engagement evidently fell through, and she later married another of her photographers, Arthur Howell.
June retired from full time modelling in 1970 at the age of 30. By this time she had become a successful model agent and was running Strobe Studios with AH. She continued modelling for amateurs for another ten years, at Studio Scotlee as well as Strobe. She averaged about 3 shoots a week during this period and did one professional set for Mayfair magazine when aged 36.
june palmer
Photographer Irv Carsten said this about Palmer in the March 1962 issue of Modern Man, "I felt ashamed using an automatic camera. Her posing is second nature, she's beautiful from any angle, and without camera settings to make, there's nothing to do but watch."
AKA: june powers
rachel wells
June Palmer was perhaps the most celebrated British figure model of all time, and the longevity of her career almost certainly makes her the most photographed nudes in British history. Born on the 1st August 1940, her parents little knowing the impact that in later years she was to make on the male population, both at home and abroad. With June Palmer's fabulous figure, hair and face, she was the stuff boys and men dreamt of, June Palmer's pin-up poses adorning many a wall and locker door, the magazines June Palmer featured in safely tucked under a pillow or inside a drawer to be carefully removed in private.
Becoming probably the most famous Harrison Marks model June Palmer is still gaining new fans from all corners of the globe as well as delighting her original admirers.
Her marathon career was motivated in no small measure by personal satisfaction. Anyone who photographed her will testify to her professionalism and dedication, and to the fact that June loved doing nude work. June passed away in january 2004, and is remembered here by her great friend and model Teri Martine
