ELLE was created in the post-war years by Hélène Lazareff, the most remarkable personality I met in the magazine world. She was a tiny, soft-spoken woman, who seemed always aware of the personal problems of each of her collaborators, but who at the same time was regarded by all with a kind of awe. She identified with her readers to the point that she never worried about what they may like or dislike, convinced as she was that what was right for her couldn't be wrong for the readers. And she was so consistent in her judgements, that everyone on the staff knew it as well: during a photo session, someone would say at some point: "This is what Hélène will like", and sure enough she did.

My own way of photographing women appealed to her so instantly, that I never had the impression (as with other magazines) that I was bringing some kind of revolution into the house. In spite of this, I didn't become a permanent member of her team, perhaps because I wasn't always in agreement with "what Hélène liked", nor diplomatic enough to keep my opinion to myself.

Another thing I liked about this collaboration, was that Hélène often asked me to illustrate abstract concepts - such as love, friendship, charity or intolerance - and that in these assignements she allowed me much freedom.

Over the years, I did several photographic sequences for ELLE, of which the images presented here are but an example. To those familiar with women's magazines, these particular images may not seem very special - but that is, paradoxically, the very reason why I am presenting them: they are (to my knowledge) the first performance of a scenario that was to be replayed by many photographers, in many magazines and with endless variations. One day I came to Hélène with a suggestion: "Instead of always showing models under palm trees or in front of the Ritz, couldn't we take them to some ordinary French village, and photograph them with the farmers, the schoolteacher, the fire brigade, etc.?" Hélène agreed instantly, and suggested that I team up with one of the editors, and drive through France in order to find the ideal location. We choose a village in Auvergne, called Sauxillanges, which happened to be the birthplace of Coco Chanel, Hélène's favourite designer. "This is what Hélène will like" said the editor.

(It was after seeing this sequence that Marvin Israel, the art director of Harper's Bazaar in New York, asked me to work for his magazine. He even sent me to Alabama and Georgia, to select a typical small town in the US. But Nancy White, the editor of Harper's Bazaar, was very unlike Hélène Lazareff: the project never took off.)