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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

On the Fence: 1939

1939. An uncaptioned portrait possibly of photographer John Vachon's wife, Millicent (Penny) Leeper. 35mm nitrate negative. View full size.

1939. An uncaptioned portrait possibly of photographer John Vachon's wife, Millicent (Penny) Leeper. 35mm nitrate negative. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

A Penny thought

Presumably Ms. Leeper was nicknamed "Penny" as short for Milli-CENT.

Fencework

The combination of a talented photographer and a striking subject knows no decade, century or millenium. Wonder if either of them thought at that moment that, 72 years hence, we'd still be admiring their work. Thanks for this one, Dave.

Beautiful Shot!

The natural pose, the flowers and the interesting angles. Love it!

Big Toe

I hope that boo-boo has healed by now.

No commercial for you

I am stuck on store-brand adhesive bandages, 'cause store-brand adhesive bandages are stuck on me.

A penny for Penny's thoughts

Maybe she ought to have stubbed out her smoking habit as effectively as she appears to have stubbed her toe; maybe her shirt pocket was her only pocket.

Surely one so elegant and at ease can be forgiven her peccadilloes, though, for providing such a super picture as she sits deep in thought in that meadow.

Doppelgänger

This is the spitting image of someone I once knew, who is probably about 60 years younger than the model in this photograph. Nostalgia compelled me to click the "colorize" button on my viewer (along with the "correct minor scan glitches" button). Sorry for the interruption, please continue browsing.


(Click for full-size, if you're so inclined.)

Multiple angles

There are so many angles in the picture, wooden, arms, and legs. I wonder what hurt her right great toe? A great photograph.

In her hand

Is that a cable release that I see? Was she doing something with her own camera at the time or is that just a prop?

[Note the gear visible through the crook in her arm. This one of about half a dozen shots, none of them self-portraits. - Dave]

I didn't notice the "gear visible through the crook of her arm," or more accurately I didn't recognize it as photographic equipment (I thought it was part of the fence). Nevertheless, her use of a cable release on her own camera doesn't necessarily mean that she was doing a self-portrait. Even if she were doing a self-portrait it would not necessarily be included in a group of shots taken by another photographer.

Hubba Hubba!

Now THAT's a dame! Band-aid on the big toe from stubbing it on the clutch and a pack of smokes at the ready. Regardless, this photo could have been taken yesterday.

Cigs

The one thing that I notice first about this photo is the cigarettes in her shirt pocket. I know smoking was much more common back then, but women usually did not carry a pack around in their shirt pocket. That is where men carried their cigarettes.

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