An Intriguing Photograph From the 1960s Has An Iconic Story
A photo that gave the very busy teen writers, a reason to pause, take a look and ponder...
As writers, we are constantly on the look out for anything interesting around us. By writers, I don’t refer to published authors but any one of us who write for a variety of reasons. Some of us like documenting our thoughts/ideas or interesting news that we like to ponder about. Some of us like to dabble with writing stories or even poetry as a way of experiencing leisure. For instance the community in which I live in has a poetry club for adults. They meet to share poetry and simply have a lovely time enjoying poetry. Teens at the Young Writers’ Club love experimenting with a variety of writing prompts that range from opinion essays, lists to horror stories and even poetry if the mood would allow it. Their interests lie in diverse forms of writing and given that is the case, there is appetite for a variety of news for them to learn about, observe and make inferences.
To break away from last week’s heavy duty subject of Smog in Delhi (more here if you missed), we took on something a lot lighter last week. We traced the iconic story behind this photo by Ormund Gigli which has gained immense popularity in the last decade. Gigli is renowned for his photography which covers anything from farmers to movie stars in his decades long career. He has worked with Time Life, Paris Match and a number of other publications.
What makes this photo so special?
As always, we like to take our time to study images, make inferences, theorize even a little bit, before we go exploring for more information. Before you scroll down, dear reader, take a good look at the picture, make your observations before you read our’s.
Doll house? Dolls in boxes? Too tiny to be Barbie?
Representation of women feeling trapped at times? There are some women in the picture, whose poses look like they are trapped.
Bollywood actresses posing?
Could be nostalgia? Maybe in 1970s based on their style of dressing.
Movie set that has been made to look real?
The gist of the story behind the photo
This photo wasn’t taken on commission. Instead it was an idea that Gigli had been thinking of for awhile. What is interesting is how it came about. The year is 1960. The location is New York’s East 58th Street. This building was to be soon demolished. When Gigli got this news, he knew he had to act fast. Within a matter of hours, he managed to get arrangements done. The women posing are all ordinary women who were asked to come dressed in their finest of clothes. Gigli’s wife too is one of them. More details about the story here.
Soon after the photo was taken, the building was brought down. Given this context, the photo takes an interesting angle. Nostalgic for some, iconic for others and an interesting story behind the photo is what it takes to make his photograph a really famous one.
Using this story in the background, we spin a new narrative…
What if we were to conduct an auction for this photo? How would we spread word? How would we attract the super rich to come for this auction? The value needs to be stepped up.
Looking at it from the target audience point of view
The teens swung into action by first pretending to be the clientele. What does it look like for someone who could buy this photo for a good price?
Creepy- might work for the kind of clientele that appreciates this kind of art.
How about adding a nostalgia element? Might reduce the creepiness? Market it as a rare piece of art.
How about highlighting the fashion element? It is a matter of prestige to own a piece of art that showcases a time that has long gone and what’s more with an element of style?
The photo has plenty of detail which makes it suitable to become a subject one can observe for a length of time and ponder- could even lead to interesting conversations.
There is room for speculation- real women or dolls?
Piggyback on Barbie’s reputation.
Step up the price- convey a sense of high value for a luxury item that is rare.
What seemed like a brainstorming session for a potentially good advertising campaign came to a stop with many unspoken thoughts in the air- The world of art, luxury, auctions and owning a rare piece.
Every quarter, selected writings of all the teens at the Young Writers’ Club, are published. The new cycle has begun. The first article to be published, is a thought provoking article with a humorous ring to it- The Humble Toilet- An invention that does not get the appreciation it needs by Aryan Jagadish is now available to read.
Stay tuned for refreshing perspectives and absorbing reads from the amazing and hardworking teenagers at the Young Writers’ Club. If you would like to encourage these capable individuals and are tempted to subscribe to our magazine, subscribe for free here. Thank you for reading!