Pics of Then

By: usermattw

Jul 18 2012

Tags: photography, vintage photography

Category: Women

5 Comments

Click here to view it larger.

What it is:

Photo measuring 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

What I know about it:

Nothing!  Undated and unidentified.  But see comments below.

Comments:

One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries. – A. A. Milne.  I wholeheartedly subscribe to Milne’s maxim, as anyone who has ever seen my apartment can attest.  But while the general disorganization of my photo collection can result in my observing interesting patterns and relationships, it sometimes results in things getting overlooked.  Here is an example.  Last week I posted a picture, and yesterday I found a different version of that same photo that had gotten separated and stored in a different box.  *sigh*  Normally, I might ignore this (and indeed, I have before), or I might try to pass it off as a deliberate curatorial choice, but let’s face it, I blew it, and I decided to show this other photo right away.  I think they are so interesting to compare!  The first one seems like the photographer was getting his/her bearings, and this second photo seems like the image as it was intended.  What seemed in the first one like awkward lighting at her feet now comes across as a beautiful uplit fill.  And wow, what a difference the lighting, angle, and expression make on her face!  She’s perfectly attractive in both, but I had to look closely to make sure I was looking at the same woman, despite every other indication that it’s so.  Of course, seeing this second photo gets us no closer to knowing her identify or the story behind this photo.  It’s also interesting that the apparently flawed photo was printed up as a postcard, while this one is just a regular photo.  It’s just as well that I made that mistake, since I might have posted the prettier photo without posting the flawed photo at all, and I think it’s good to see both.