Hi Frank ... I was waiting for your comments. Thanks for getting around to posting them.
Yes, Kathy was a hippie, but then, so were many of us back in those days. The stories i could tell <vbg> Kathy and her "old man," Dick, were very good friends, and these photos were taken in a different neighborhood than the kids. The kids were around my studio, the series with Kathy was taken across town ,near where I lived. The door is the door to Kathy's apartment. We spent a while outside making photos, and both Kathy and her niece were having a grand time, being silly, being loving, and kidding around for the camera. This was my first ever photo session, although, in those days, I didn't think of it like that. We were just having fun, kidding around. Anyway, those were the days when film was cheap, and I carried the Spottie everywhere, photographing everyone and everything. I'll tell you how much I used that Spottie: it was chrome, and in a little more than a year the brass was showing through in a couple of places. I loved that camera. When my studio was broken into, that was the camera that was taken. The Bronica, the Bolex movie cam, the Nikons, and lots of other expensive gear was not touched. And, rather than react with a sigh of relief, I was devastated. Shel and the Spotmatic were inseparable until that moment. Shel Belinkoff > [Original Message] > From: frank theriault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 5/26/2004 3:10:09 PM > Subject: RE: PAW - Kathy and Her Niece > > One of the joys of photography (or any art, I suppose), is how one's opinion > can change WRT an object as one examines and "gets into" it. That's one of > the things I like about commenting on PAWs: it forces me to really get into > a photo that I like, and I can sometimes end up with a different conclusion > than I did at first blush. > > When I first viewed these two photos, I preferred Kathy and Her Neice (this > one). Now I don't. As I got into the other, I came to like it more, > because there was so much going on in that one between the two. > > Hard to compare, I guess, as this is a more formal portrait. What hit me on > first viewing (other than how beautiful each are, and how obviously they > love each other), is that Kathy looks like such a Hippy. The coat, the > pigtails, the face unadorned by make-up. She's just so fresh and clean > looking. I don't know if she was an actual Hippy or not, but I thought, > "Wow, she looks like one!". Unlike some of your other shots of the > neighbourhood kids, this photo is set in a very particular time: it could > only be late 60's, IMHO. Very Cool! > > Love the background: the railing framing her, the stairs, the columns and > door; they're all wonderful details that put her in a place, and > aesthetically they centre the two, draw us in. Fabulous. And > (unfortunately, I had to delete the other replies to this, so I have no idea > what anyone else said), did anyone else notice the door, ever so slightly > ajar? What a great detail. And, beautifully OOF, too (the background, that > is). > > Beautiful portrait, Shel. I like the other just a bit better, but not by > much. They're both terrific. > > thanks, > frank > > "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist > fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer >
