While doing research on the 1955 Mercedes 300SLS Prototype Roadster at the UCLA graduate research library, I came across an article titled “The Secret SLS” in Colliers Magazine by David Douglas Duncan. I proceeded to contact David in 1988 and after correspondence he was kind enough to send me the photos you see below.
In 1956, Mercedes wanted to promote their new 300SLS Prototype Roadster and so offered David a new Mercedes Gullwing if he would take photos and write a story for either Life or Colliers. He picked up his new Gullwing and did the shoot at the same time. The Gullwing is the black one on the Duncan history page and can be seen with Picasso and his mistress Françoise Gilot. Duncan was an intimate friend of Picasso’s and went on the write several books about the artist and his work.
David Douglas Duncan is an American photojournalist and among the most influential photographers of the 20th century. He is considered to be one of the fathers of modern photo journalism and best know for his photos and chronicle of war. He was a photographer for Life Magazine during WWII, Korea and Vietnam and developed, along with Leica, what was to become the modern SLR camera that all following journalists/photographers used for the next 50 years.
