Amanda was born in 1946 in Hong Kong from an English/French father who served for the French army in Indochina and an Asian/Russian mother, She was was raised in the South of France and in Switzerland, and in addition to two mother languages ( French and English ) she also speaks German, Spanish and Italian. Her SRS in the early 1960's was performed at Dr. Georges Burou's clinic in Casablanca, Morocco (although she has never publicly admitted it, and  in an interview many years later stated that being a transsexual was a ruse created by David Bowie). At the age of 16 she went to Paris to study painting, then in 1964 to the famous St Martins School in London. During this time she started modeling for Catherine Harlé, head of the famous European model agency and became friends with Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.

In 1965 she began to model for the likes of Paco Rabanne and Yves St Laurent, and then became a muse for Salvador Dali.  She appeared on the cover of Brian Ferry's album "For Your Pleasure" in the early 1970s and then later started dating (and lived with) David Bowie. In 1977 She recorded her first album, "I'm just a Photograph," and it stayed on the German record charts for 33 weeks. Her low voice once again had people wondering about her gender.  In the 1990s she appeared in the French film, "A Woman For Me," and several television shows as well.