Day 3651: Woman, Princess?

 

 

"Intruder: junk mail collage

 

 

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2GN2S ... 

Pioneering newspaper publisher

She was a pioneering newspaper publisher in a room full of men. In history, she wasn't alone. The wood-walled conference room has a sterile quality, and the men in muted suits seated around the wide central table are eerily alike, as if duplicated. But this photograph of a high-level corporate meeting has one outlier -- a woman with short, curled hair seated on the far left. She lines up perfectly with the group's symmetry, but she's conspicuous in her jewel-toned blue dress, her bare legs visible below the hem. Taken in New York City in 1975, the portrait of the former Washington Post publisher and eventual CEO, Katharine Graham, is just one of countless images that follow a similar visual formula: the only woman in a composition of men.

"The Only Woman" is the culmination of a years-long research project that Humes worked on after making a visual connection between two images. The first was a 1962 photo of American filmmaker Shirley Clarke, who was often (incorrectly) noted as the only female filmmaker of her time, central in a ring of male creative types. The second was a 1951 group portrait of 15 famous abstract expressionist artists -- including Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko -- with a single woman, artist Hedda Sterne, in the back, standing on top of a table. Humes explained in a phone call that she became "obsessed" with the image of Clarke. "What was it like for her? What difference did it make in her life that she was the 'only woman?'" 

 Filmmaker Shirley Clarke, 1962 in NYC catalyzed Humes' book "The Only Woman."

Soon, Humes couldn't un-see the pattern, finding photos of "the same constellation" everywhere, she said. She collected images of scientists, comedy writers, athletes and politicians, among many others, from the mid-19th century, when photography was popularized, until today. 

The picture of Graham intrigued her because of the image's history. The formidable publisher had inherited the Washington Post after her father and husband both died. She never thought the role would fall on her, but helmed the newspaper during an era of momentous reporting, publishing both the Pentagon Papers and investigations into former President Nixon's administration that would lead to his resignation. She became the newspaper's first female publisher and, later, CEO. She was also the first woman elected to the board of directors at the Associated Press -- the group she was seated with in this particular image.

"She's obviously being honored by being put in the front," Humes said. "In this case...the woman has a place of honor because of her talent, and because she's the only woman."

Do you remember the children's story ...

Well this isn't that story, no princess here. But, it does involve a mattress, just one.

While WonderWoman was in town last weekend, one of the things we did was go to get me a new mattress. I have been getting up each morning with a stiff back that makes me look like Quasimoto 

for an hour until I can stretch it out. The new miracle mattress arrived yesterday and I woke up to no pain or stiffness. Plus, I have  completed 4 loads of laundry and completed a lot of purging of files. (My goal was to get through a file drawer a day, but that was optimistic.)

They say get a new mattress every 8 years. Today while purging, I threw out the receipt from my previous mattress, dated
 2006!

 

Throwback Thursday

 

 

 

Suzuki Sensei, Sakagami Sensei, Demura Sensei, 

 

   Honbu Dojo, Santa Ana, CA 1987

 

 

 

 

 

 

A music 3-minute video, Woodstock, here.

 

Just because ...

 

 

Scaly-breasted Munia

   

 

Smiles for Thursday ...

 

 

  

  

   

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

                             Thanks for coming by today