Since she began taking photographs almost 40 years ago, Joanna McCarthy has exhibited her work widely, won numerous prizes and awards, and been published in many magazines. However, prior to that career, she led another life in front of the camera as a model with the Wilhelmina and Ford agencies and was photographed by such luminaries as Irving Penn, Hiro, and Saul Leiter. For a number of years, the two careers coincided.