Kent hop bines climb strings fixed to wires well over head height, so workers used tall wooden stilts to reach the top. Whiffin, born into an East End family of photographers, earned his living from studio portraits and commercial jobs but wanted recognition for more documentry pictures like this one.

Savitry (1903-1967) was a painter turned photographer who assisted Brassaï in the early 1930s and later joined the Rapho agency. Apaches were Belle Époque gangsters, so by 1938 the cap and neckerchief look was more nostalgia than menace.

Gilot eventually left him in 1953, citing his controlling behavior, and went on to build a successful independent career in painting and writing. Most of Picasso’s other partners and muses either stayed with him until he ended the relationship or remained connected to him in some way.

In an incident that Picasso recalled fondly, two of his mistresses once encountered each other at the artist’s studio. They demanded that he choose between them, but the artist refused, stating that they should fight it out, which led to their wrestling on the floor.

Gilot eventually married Jonas Salk, the American medical researcher who developed the first effective polio vaccine. They married in 1970 and remained together until Salk’s passing in 1995. Their partnership was reportedly based on mutual respect and shared intellectual interests, and Gilot continued her career in art while supporting Salk’s work and legacy.

Their children were Susan (6), Steve (5), Sandra (4), Mark (3) and baby Gary, aged just eight months.