Aenigma is all about images from the the worlds of fashion and the movies and the stories behind them.Short stories is a good place to come if you don’t have time for one of the longer pieces. Below you’ll find a selection of shots that illustrate the range of subjects covered by aenigma. It’s a deliberately eclectic mix with, hopefully, something for everybody.Use the filter buttons to home in on topics that might interest you, and then the Read more button to go to the whole story. … [Read more...]
A L “Whitey” Schafer – the art of the portrait
1941. Janet Blair wrapped in cellophane. Photo by A L “Whitey” Schafer. Read more.A L “Whitey” Schafer was a leading stills photographer in Hollywood during the 1930s and ’40s. In 1941 he published Portraiture Simplified, a book in which he argues that “…portraiture’s purpose is the realization of character realistically.” It provides an insight into his approach and techniques.To help promote the book, he wrote wrote an article for amateur photographers in the February 1943 issue of Popular Science. It makes a nice counterpoint to some of his studio shots. A transcript follows, but it's worth taking a look at the original (there’s a link to it at the end of this article), both for the photos that illustrate it and for his advice on equipment, which do not appear here.After the transcript, you will find a few reflections on A L “Whitey” Schafer’s Hollywood portraits followed by his career timeline.Explore your home for pictures in patternBy A. L. … [Read more...]
Unsafe sex – the starlet’s dilemma
Around 1950. A photo inscribed to Dr Irving Ress by Janis Paige. Read more.In the aftermath of World War II, unmarried women faced a hard dilemma when it came to sex. Damned if they did, and damned if they didn’t.In the words of a 16-year-old girl quoted by Michael Phillips in his article Women and the Sexual Double Standard of the 1950s:How are you supposed to know what they want? You hold out for a long time and then when you give in to them and give your body they laugh at you afterwards and say they would never marry a slut, and that they didn’t love you but were testing because they only plan to marry a virgin and wanted to see if you would go all the way.The pressures could be especially intense in the torrid and ultra-competitive world of the Hollywood studios, where the casting couch cast a long shadow and having a flexible attitude to sex could be the route to stardom or the road to perdition.The inspiration for this piece is a collection of photos … [Read more...]
