Born in Thunder Bay, Sauer moved in the late 1940s to Montreal, where she married commercial photographer Max Sauer. She learned photography as she worked with her husband and then ran the studio by herself after his sudden death in 1954. Sauer shifted the studio’s focus from industrial to fashion photography, with a particular interest in fur. She garnered commissions from major department stores and domestic, as well as international, fur trading organizations and publications. Sauer also experimented with alternative photographic processes. In her science-fiction inspired image of three models, Sauer enhanced the modern fashions by combining collaged figures from several negatives to make them seem as though they are floating in space. The otherworldly light effects are created by solarization, which entails briefly exposing the print to light during the developing process. Sauer remains an elusive figure and her work has rarely been celebrated, exhibited, or collected. Nevertheless, her international acclaim is marked by awards, including a Merit award from the Professional Photographers of America, a rarity for both a woman and a Canadian.

Image: June Sauer, Venus in Furs, model F. Todaxco, c.1960, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

For further reading, see:

Concordia University, “Artist Database: SAUER, June.” Canadian Women Artists History Initiative, last updated June 13, 2016. cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=5822.