Phyllis Woodward was one of the Beauties who was "discovered" in a woman's social club when I was assigned to do a group shot there. Naturally, she gravitated to the front of the posed group photo. |
Her talent for modeling, however, didn't shine forth until I got her into the studio and framed her. She was totally photogenic, and, since she was a socialite and a bank secretary, I had to rein in my inclination to get her in a bathing suit. |
She fits in the frame with precision but I can't remember how I made it look like that - with both hands perfectly positioned to make it look as though she is holding onto the picture frame, which was pasted in later. Another aspect that added a lot of challenge is the foot dangling below the picture frame. The engravers had to saw the zinc engraving exactly on the outline. Then, as though to spread the pain, the compositor had to cut the headline (cast in lead) into two parts and lock it into the page with a spot of room in the middle for the foot. Luckily, I had a good relationship with the guys in the shop and they always bitched about my weird requests, but in a good-natured way. I respected their craftsmanship and their desire to make things look as perfect as possible and they did a good job with this. |
Beauties Gallery
Page One