Sandra 009 - 010

Two heavily edited versions of portraits 007 - 008 featuring Sandra posing in vintage cat eye glasses made by Whitney over half a century ago.

Sandra 007 - 008

The switch from sepia to black and white marks a jump of half a century. Cat eye glasses were the first great example of what was always seen as a necessity transformed into an element of fashion. The style started in the USA and it reached Europe in the mid 1950's. I have vivid memories of many beautiful girls and women sporting cat eye glasses in the streets of my native Amsterdam in my childhood days. The Whitney glasses shown here to great effect by Sandra were sent to me by one of my favorite photographers: Stephan from Bavaria. His projects like "Planet Myopia" (in which his then life partner excelled as his model) were highly inspirational to me when I embarked on my own project. For the record, the life partner in question was also called Sandra.

Sandra 006

Glasses: Whitney, late 1950's / early 1960's
[L: -6.75; c-0.75 h / R: -7.00; c-1.00 h]

Sandra 005

Steel oval glasses with straight arms were the alternative for the lower middle classes in the early years of the past century. The upper classes preferred the face à main (also called lorgnette) which had to be held by a hand to keep them in front of the eyes. This may sound quite impractical but there was a code that glasses should only be used when it was absolutely necessary. The pince-nez did not require the use of a hand but it was an alternative that required the use of a thin cord attached to the clothing. The steel glasses shown here by Sandra were by far the most practical solution. Presumably the lower middle classes had no code against full time wear.

Sandra 004

Glasses: nameless, made of steel, with straight arms, made circa 1900
[L=R: -3.25]

Sandra 002 - 003

For the models, a photo shoot as "Lady behind crystal veil" is a journey through a time machine covering over a century. This documentary of my photo shoot with lovely Sandra starts with an example of antique eyewear. Steel pince-nez like this became quite popular among the "upper middle" class of the 1890's and were frequently seen until the introduction of celluloid frames in late 1920's. The pince-nez was used by men and women alike. Glasses only became a part of the fashion industry during the 1940's. Most pince-nez in antique and bric à brac shops are fitted with lenses for reading but my collection hosts some pince-nez with lenses for myopia as well. Models are often fascinated by the experiment, especially when they can see well through the pince-nez. An eye opener from their great-great-grandmother's!

Sandra 001

Photo shoot: May 20th, 2014
Location: University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

Rx model:
[L: -5.75; c-0.50 v / R: -5.50; c-0.50 v]

Glasses: pince-nez, made circa 1900
[L: -6.50 / R: -5.25]