Sondra Scerca recognized a star when she first saw Gia Carangi in Maurice Tannenbaum’s hair salon in Philadelphia in the Fall of 1977. She immediately called her good friend Wilhelmina Cooper and said, “you have to see this girl!”
Three days later Gia, Sondra, and Maurice were in Wilhelmina’s office in NYC.
Sondra helped Wilhelmina launch “Wilhelmina Model Agency, Inc” in 1967.
After Sondra returned to Philadelphia, the two women remained friends, and ten years later Sondra brought Gia to meet Willy.
In the fall of 1977, Maurice Tannenbaum hired Sondra Scerca as a makeup artist in his salon. Maurice was an aspiring fashion photographer as well as a successful hair stylist. He showed Sondra his book of photographs and she was blown away at the photos of Gia.
Sondra: “I remember the breathtaking moment I saw Gia leaning against the wall of the salon, watching Maurice style. I recall introducing myself and immediately calling Willy, after asking Gia if she wanted to be a model.”
In February 1978, Gia signed with Wilhelmina Models and had her first test shoot, two floors above Willy’s agency in New York City. Willy invited Maurice Tannenbaum to photograph Gia along with other new models to the agency. Sondra was there to assist and took candid Kodachrome shots of Gia that day with her trusty Leica camera.
Sondra looked through Maurice’s book of photos and was blown away.
Sondra: “Gia was extremely nervous to be shooting with ‘professional’ models and was convinced that they didn’t like her. To help ease her fears and calm her, I suggested we take a few shots and encouraged her to look in the mirror and see that she was their equal, or better. As she leaned into the mirror … at that moment I saw and captured “The Face” that would impact the world of modeling forever.”
February 1978, Gia just turned 18 on January 29th, and she’s doing her first test shoot for Wilhelmina in the studio two floors above Willy’s office.
In attendance: Gia Carangi, Berky, Maurice Tannenbaum photographer, hair and makeup. Sondra Scerca assisted the shoot and Gia.
Sondra, a budding photographer herself, took these candid photos.
Male model “Berky” wasn’t a model at all. He was Maurice’s assistant back in Philadelphia and had stepped in as male model for Maurice in some of his first test shoots with Gia back in Philly.
Berky and Gia got along really well and he seemed to set her at ease. Berky was in many of the pictures that Sondra took in February 1978. As far as anyone knows, Sondra Scerca, Maurice Tannenbaum and Bill Friedman were the ones known to have photographed him.
Gia was very nervous about working with professional models, worried that she wasn’t good enough.
Sondra calmly guided her through breathing exercises and told her to look at herself in the mirror.
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