George Hoyningen-Huene and Jessie the Barmaid

Jessie Sinden was a barmaid at the Brooklyn Hotel on George Street in Sydney when she was 'discovered' by Baron George Hoyningen-Huene, a high-profile American fashion photographer and Hollywood figure. Hoyningen-Huene visited Sydney for five days in December 1937, where David Jones commissioned him to photograph a fashion assignment for The Home magazine and he met with photographer Max Dupain. In this 1937 photograph by Dupain, Hoyningen-Huene is depicted adjusting a light above a smiling model. A pencil inscription on the bottom of the photograph, which was originally deciphered as 'Huene + Trixie the Mermaid', led to an exhaustive investigation into mermaids of the 1930s. However, a newspaper report on Hoyningen-Huene's 1937 visit to Australia eventually revealed that the inscription in fact read 'Jessie the barmaid'. In the newspaper report, Hoyningen-Huene likened her to 'Mae West, Manet and Folies Bergere all rolled into one'. Initially refusing to divulge her name, Hoyningen-Huene commented 'she is the most interesting woman I have found in my recent travels'. When Sinden's identity was revealed some days later, she explained 'the baron asked me if I'd pose for him. I told him I had only my bar dress on, and it was full of beer. You know how it is. He said it doesn't matter'. After the shoot, Hoyningen-Huene said he would take the negatives of Sinden to Hollywood with him. Captured in Dupain's photograph is this small exchange featuring an Australian barmaid's '15 minutes of fame' with a 'big-time' international photographer.

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.