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| Jessie Tarbox Beals America's first female photojournalist c. 1904 |
This challenge comes with a wide angle and any filter of your choosing.
Literal! Figurative! Reflective! Narrative!
As an added extra to this challenge, you may write a Flash 55 inspired by the photograph, or on a subject of your choice, as we keep the memory of Galen alive, and send our love and support to Hedgewitch, during her time off from hosting.
I found the story behind her fascinating... how to be able to be a photojournalist with such equipment is amazing... some of her pictures where quite fascinating... but in the end I had to improve the story a bit ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Kerry, I too liked her story and the pictures. Hers were quite interesting. I wrote of the "woman's place" in 55 words excluding the title.
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I was so intrigued by the image and the name that I had to find out more about Jessie's story and, when I did, I had to write about it in 55 words!
ReplyDeleteThanks all. Such varied responses to Jessie! Was she a spoiled rich lady, or a ground-breaker for female equality? It has made for interesting poetry.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's just the key, isn't it Kerry - you've hit it on the head ... for surely, to be a woman during that era, carting around all the heavy, cumbersome and dangerous equipment (the instability of the chemicals on the glass plates did make for explosions) etc. is one thing, but then, her "body" of work, in itself, is contradictory. For the tenements to the gardens of the "elite" - and there is something a bit "off" in terms of the portraits - studied, posed, even ones from the "Fair/Exhibit" - which certainly wasn't unheard of at the time, regarding "curiosity on display" - but personally, I'm not sure how I feel about her works - spent several hours re-acquainting myself with the images, - and all I can wonder, for my own ideas, is whether I feel she was an impostor of sorts, or simply doing as best she could, given the circumstances and times, as a woman, but generally, I just feel like her images lack "empathy" --- not just because of the "technical distancing of the camera's eye" - but somehow, as if she was rather disdainful in some ways. Still, I enjoyed the exploration and am thinking on ideas for the writing.
ReplyDeletethanks for the image and hosting :)
Pat
Thanks for your input on the subject, Pat. I wonder if she would have had many opportunities to take 'serious' photos, those considered a man's territory. Perhaps she had to be content with cats!
ReplyDeleteGreat image, and I was fascinated by her story! Thanks Kerry!
ReplyDeleteThat is one bizarre hat.
ReplyDeleteI wrote two, one at Black Mamba and one at WG.
ReplyDeleteI reposted an old 55 today. Hope that's OK. I miss G-Man
ReplyDeleteOh, I love her and her story. It lead me to howl with 55. :)
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