Here is a closer view for analysis
Dorothy was a pretty good painter... and just plain pretty !
Looks like one of the neat portrait lenses of the day, not a Verito,
more like a Dallmeyer, or a Cooke, or - I'm unsure about the dates -
Pinkham & Smith were in the neighborhood !
Another possibility for the lens might have been a Tessar, Heliar,
or other fast Anastigmat of the day. While we tend to think of these as press lenses, they were very popular for the ability to FOCUS easily. The method in the day was to focus, do any corrections, such as tilting the lens to brng a shoulder, or hands, into the plane of focus, and then rack the front standard out to put the focus slightly ahead of the face. Yep, that's how they did it.
If I were running out to do a picture like this, with, say, Mamiya RB, I'd use a 127 and stretch a little black silk stocking (Dior, if you've got them) over the back of the lens like the movie guys do.
I understand, years ago, when Dior stopped making THE silk stockings, Harrods acquired all that were left and there was a mob of english cine shooters at the front door, elbowing out all the ladies...picture some blokes that look like Hagrid loaded up with boxes of stockings.
An EXCELLENT place for Primary Source information on Portraiture in the early 20th century are periodicals to the trade, like Kodak's Studio Light, and the amazing The Photo Miniature. Available for a song at the online-auction-place. My favorite is the 1916 interview with THE HOT California Portraitist... Edw. Weston. Like having a Photo Tardis.
Linear Mode
