Patti Conley (c. 1930s–?), known in Willie’s circle as “Pat,” was a Hollywood hopeful with a dancer’s lithe frame and a showgirl’s charisma. An American model who moonlighted in men’s magazines and even starred in burlesque training films like LA School for Strippers (1957). She posed for a number of L.A. photographers, including Peter Gowland, Peter Gowland and Keith Bernard and had worked as a showgirl at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Patti brought her worldly grace to John Willie’s late-period photography. Discovered around 1959, she became one of his most versatile muses, blending the glamour of the silver screen with the intimacy of fetish art.
Stories in Restraint
Patti’s sessions with Willie, primarily in 1959–1960 Los Angeles, captured her slender silhouette in seven dedicated sets, from solo vignettes to collaborative narratives.
Her work emphasized narrative depth over mere pose; Patti’s expressive glances and fluid poses infused Willie’s technical ropework with emotional layers, evoking a woman’s quiet command even in surrender. She even appeared in Chastisement of Alannah (ca. 1958), a rare photo-novella where her distress felt playfully theatrical, not imposed.
A figure that rivals the slender loveliness of my illustrations.
John Willie, on Patti’s form in his archives
A Bridge to Broader Horizons
Beyond Willie’s lens, Patti modeled for photographers like Keith Bernard at the infamous Spider Pool, a mid-century Hollywood swim club turned pin-up haven. Her versatility spoke to the era’s bold women: by day, a student of strip routines; by night, a canvas for fantasy. Patti’s legacy lies in her adaptability: turning the spotlight from stage to studio, always with poise and presence.
Bondage at the ‘Spiderpool’
The SpiderpoolSm-201 was a legendary swimming pool location at the heart of Hollywood’s underground fetish scene in the 1950s–1960s, best known as a backdrop for pin-up, glamour, and bondage photography.
It wasn’t just any pool, but a creative hotspot where models posed in bikinis, high heels, and sometimes ropes, captured by pioneers like Keith Bernard and John Willie.
