Bonnie 191 - 192

Two more portraits taken when Bonnie was reading her art book with assistance of a huge oair of 1980;s Cobra glasses. Here I zoomed in on the lens in front of the model's right eye as it seemed to catch all the light available in the public library, the city of Limerick and who knows, the entire county Limerick. Concentration from a vanishing point. Surrealistic but the effect was there - echoes from my own student days....

Bonnie 189-190

Ergonomics and a helping hand during prolonged concentrated reading - how many times did I observe this during my student days in the university library in the heart of old Amsterdam? No doubt, I took good use of these remedies myself. Of course there is the main theme - glasses that enable the model to see what she wants to see - but at this late stage of the photo shoot with Bonnie my focus expanded a touch, all by itself. Bonnie, all I can say is that you don't mind!

Bonnie 188

Cobra from Austria made some remarkable glasses during the 1980's. One modest example, fitted with bifocal lenses, was shown by Bonnie earlier on and here is a giant Cobra. The glasses were obtained in a most hospitable charity shop in Wales, twelve years ago. The three old ladies who ran the shop were intrigued by my request for used glasses and they produced an immense box filled to the brim with glasses. During my selection, they let me partake of their advice and in the end, I had to insist to make them accept a few pounds for my selection.

The Cobra glasses are shown here by Bonnie to illustrate their contrast with the preceding Invicta glasses. Here is an example where the glasses are complementary to the model's facial shape. Judge for yourself if you prefer this frame or the preceding Invicta frame.  

Bonnie 187

Glasses: Cobra, 1980's
[L: +4.00 / R: +5.00; c+1.00 o]

Bonnie 184 - 186

Three lovely captures of Bonnie, completely absorbed in her art book. Note the effects created by the magnifying lenses in the green Invicta glasses.

Bonnie 183

These Invicta glasses gave Bonnie fair eyesight, even though the lenses have no cylinders. Good!

Bonnie 182

Fine posing by Bonnie in Invicta glasses - probably the greenest glasses in my entire collection. Can one think of a better place for a photo shoot with these glasses than the Emerald Isle with its forty shades of green?

Writing this reminds me of a classic remark by my daughter Daphne.during her first - and so far, only - holidays in Ireland, some twelve years ago. We sat in the bus from Ennis that would bring us to Miltown Malbay. Daphne gazed at the scenery and all of a sudden, she said, "Daddy, this country is really as crazy green as it looks in all the slides you have been showing me for ages!". My answer was, "Of course it is. Did you think my slides were edited?".

By the way, the Invicta glasses are another fine example of a frame that accentuates the facial shape of the model rather than compensating it towards Miss Average. Great!

Bonnie 181

These Invicta glasses were a buy in one of the umpteen friendly charity shops in the Hastings area at the English South coast, just before the turn of the millennium.

Bonnie 180

Glasses: Invicta, 1980's
[L: +3.25; c+0.75 o / R: +3.25; c+0.75 v]

Bonnie 179

The right lens in these classic Christian Dior glasses is considerably stronger than the left lens (from the model's perspective) and this is clearly visible in the images of Bonnie's eyelashes. The Dior glasses were previously used in my photo shoot with identical twins Nathalie and Kimberley, in February this year (second weblog).

Bonnie 178

These remarkable Christian Dior glasses were a buy at the "Waterlooplein" flea market, Amsterdam, during the late 1980's. I brought them over to Ireland with Bonnie in mind, for two reasons First, the Rx of the lenses is almost exactly the spherical strength in Bonnie's prescription. Second, I was curious if the high, narrow frame would suit her face. A thumb rule among opticians and most of their clients is that the frame shape should be complementary to the face, but there are notable exceptions. Not every glasses wearer is aiming to have the modal face - some ladies use their glasses to put an extra accent on the shape of their face. In my opinion, the Dior glasses worked quite well for Bonnie. Feel free to disagree....

Bonnie 177

Glasses: Christian Dior 1200, made in the late 1970's
[L: +2.25 / R: +3.75]

Bonnie 176

These cat eye glasses were acquired in a charity shop in England during the 1990's. The style and frame material are early 1960's but the glasses may have been made later. Old style cat eye glasses remained popular in the UK (and Ireland) long after these glasses had disappeared from the streets on the continent. E.g. the famous Sliabh Luachra fiddler Julia Clifford can be seen in a You Tube clip, sporting exactly this frame in the early 1970's. The lenses in these glasses are clearly below Bonnie's prescription. The glasses were selected for her photo shoot because of the frame. It's a pity that the lack of anti-reflective coating on the lenses enables me to post only two portraits of Bonnie. Anyway, better half an egg than none....

Bonnie 175

Glasses: Gan Aimh, early 1960's cat eye
[L: +1.50 / R: +1.25; c+0.25 v]

Bonnie 174

"Pssst!"
"Ooops! Good heavens, Mr. Photographer, I thought you had gone for a walk!"

Bonnie 171 - 173

A nice cooperation and task division between model and photographer. Bonnie was focusing on her art book and this enabled me to take some more portraits of her beautiful big eyelashes.

Bonnie 170

Bonnie adjusting the Whitney glasses. Note the centrifugal effect of the lenses, especially the lens in front of the model's right eye. The Rx of the lenses is +6.50, well above Bonnie's own prescription, but she decided to give the glasses a try because of their nice frame. Thank you, Bonnie!

Bonnie 169

These classic Whitney glasses from the cat eye era were acquired in the central part of Ireland, some fifteen years ago. Ever since my first music visits to Ireland in the late 1970's it struck me that there were far more long sighted people in Ireland than there were in the Netherlands. An elderly optician in Dublin confirmed this during the 1990's. These Whitney glasses are a splendid example. Perhaps it has to do with the abundance of panoramic views in Ireland?

Bonnie 168

Glasses: Whitney, late 1950's / early 1960's
[L=R: +6.50]

Bonnie 167

Another fine portrait of Bonnie in trifocal glasses made by Algha half a century ago. The glasses were used in one previous photo shoot, with freelance model Léonne, two years ago (second weblog, Léonne 019).

Bonnie 165 - 166

The upper segment of the lenses in the Algha glasses gave Bonnie fair eyesight - better than without glasses, but the absence of cylinders was noticeable. The lens for her left eye is almost perfect in its spherical value but for the model's right eye the intermediate section was far better.

Bonnie 162 - 164

The lenses in these vintage cat eye glasses are trifocals. This was a novelty in the early 1960's. The lady who gave me the glasses told me that her mother was delighted with them because the trifocals were so much better than her previous bifocal glasses. Trifocals were seen in the streets of my native Amsterdam during the 1960's but not often. They were probably quite expensive. In the late 1960's, the first progressive lenses appeared on the market and within a few years, trifocal glasses had become white ravens. By the way, opticians still have trifocal lenses for clients who prefer them to progressives and quite sporadically one sees them in the streets of Holland. It's quite possible that there are more people wearing trifocals abroad.

Here Bonnie is comparing the merits of the three segments in the Algha glasses. Again, the lenses have no correction for her astigmatism. If my memory serves me correctly, Bonnie said that the intermediate section of the lenses worked best for her when reading in the art book.

Bonnie 161

These vintage cat eye glasses by Algha were kindly given to me in 1996 by a beautiful lady who hated her own glasses. When she heard about my collection, she excused herself for a moment and came back with a box full of old glasses. It was an interesting lot, including all the glasses she had worn since 1963. The box also contained two pairs that had belonged to her late mother and this striking Algha pair was one of them.

Bonnie 160

Glasses: Algha, early 1960's
[L: +2.75 / R: +2.25 / trif add 1.25 - 2.75]

Bonnie 157 - 159

Bonnie has a prescription with +2.25 astigmatism and these bifocals by Cobra have no cylinders in the lenses. The section for long distance is close to Bonnie's prescription without cylinders and the reading add is +2.50, almost the same as the extra strength needed for the astigmatism. So here we see Bonnie using the reading segments, checking if she had a clearer view up close. Probably she would have been better off with a pair of glasses with +3.00 for one eye and +5.50 for the other eye. My collection hosts a couple of glasses with this prescription but I left them at home as the frames would not suit the model (or vice versa). Anyway, these portraits of Bonnie in her art book came out fine.

Bonnie 156

These bifocals by Cobra were not used in my previous photo shoots because the Rx of the lenses was not suitable for any of the 46 models before Bonnie.

Bonnie 155

Glasses: Cobra, probably early 1980's
[L=R: +3.00 / bif add 2.50]

Bonnie 153 - 154

"Pssst! Hey Bonnie...." (whispered)
"???"
"Shall we move to the next pair of glasses?"
"Good idea. I thought you'd never ask :)"

Bonnie 150 - 152

Bonnie reading her art book, allowing her court photographer to do a study in eyelashes. Beautiful!
The glasses have progressive lenses with a strong reading add (+3.25). Bonnie only needs single vision glasses so she was in fact trying out which position of the head gave her the best eyesight. This in itself adds to the concentrated "feel" of these portraits.

Bonnie 147 - 149

The great attraction of drop temple glasses was that, seen "en profil", they revealed the wearer's eyes. Here Bonnie is turning her head ever so slowly towards her photographer, showing the fascinating contradiction created by the power of the lenses for long sight. The model's eyes are completely hidden in the middle portrait. Another slight move of the head and the eyelashes start to appear. These glasses must have been ideal for a lady who preferred her looks "en face" and completely "en profil", and who decided to hide her eyes from vantage points in between. But then again, one chooses the frames but not the prescription. Anyway, the contradiction is fascinating.

Bonnie 146

These half rim drop temple glasses came in the same lot as the Cazal glasses shown by Bonnie in the park. The Rx of the lenses is identical so it's likely that both pairs were first bought by the same lady. Whoever she was, it's safe to say that she was a lady of wealth and taste.

Bonnie 145

Glasses: Gan Aimh, rimless drop temple
[L=R: +4.25 / var add 3.50]

Bonnie 144

"Oh, is it you again, Mr. Photographer? This art book is so interesting, I clean forgot that you are still here".

Bonnie 142 - 143

Another prominent feature of ladies in glasses for real long sight is shown here - those beautiful big eyelashes that put an extra accent on the intimate privacy one is hoping for when studying in a library. This is one of the reasons why I asked Limerick's city library their permission to use the premises for a part of the photo shoot with Bonnie. I did most of my studying in the 1970's in the university library so the atmosphere of isolated concentration was not new to me. Yet, Bonnie's photos exceeded my expectations. Great!