The photography of Deborah Turbeville

The Bath House, American Vogue 1975 Photograph: Deborah Turbeville/Marek & Associates

Deborah Turbeville, the American fashion photographer who died this week at the age of 81, made a career out of making images that were shrouded in mystery. Originally a fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar, she first started taking pictures in the 70s. This context is key – she was a contemporary of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin, whose glossy, sexy and confrontational pictures unsettled the still-stuffy world of fashion. Turbeville's aesthetic was different – dreamy and mysterious. It doesn't feel as if you're invited in to an urban erotic underworld, as with Newton. Instead, hers was a more delicate – more female – gaze. Working for Vogue and Nova, and producing ad campaigns for the likes of Valentino and Acne, Turbeville turned fashion pictures into intriguing character studies.

You want to know more about the woman posing in the ruined palazzo, or the group of swimsuit models caught in the showers. Like stills from a long-lost film, these images stay with you and – as Turbeville later said – exist outside the realm of fashion. There is something precious and antique about her pictures, and they represent a great legacy to be discovered by younger talents.