"Fame and success can easily blind you, it would be too risky to forget my roots."

The British supermodel with Jamaican roots still knows how to enthral men with her beauty even today. Daughter of the ballet dancer Valerie Campbell, she grew up without her father whom she never knew. The young Naomi made her first appearance at the age of seven in a music video for "Is This Love" by Bob Marley. She later left school at the age of fourteen in order to train as an actor. In 1985 she was discovered by Beth Boldt and signed by the modelling agency Synchor Models. The first photographs were for Elle. Her breakthrough as a photographic model came in 1988, as the first black model on the cover of the French edition of Vogue. From then onwards nothing stood in the way of her career. She posed for Playboy, appeared in music videos, featured in films, founded the Fashion Café in New York City with other top models, and was photographed by celebrities such as Peter Lindbergh.

The eye is caught directly by the glint on the upper lip of the sitter, which is reflecting the camera light. The top model is fully made up, which is as we always see her. She is wearing lipstick, mascara and foundation. Her hair is fully styled, and single coloured stands can be seen above her right eyebrow. Her hair is smooth at the top and the ends are waved and bound in a pony tail. We can see a diamond earring in her right ear. She looks at us with unparalleled elegance. Her mouth is closed, her eyelids only half open. Her gaze is both seductive and determined. There is also a certain severity here. And yet, we recognise in this her professionalism: she knows how to look into the camera. Avedon captures another side of the model, such as we have never seen in her before. This woman knows what her success and fame are based on and has no illusions about it.