Iris 188 - 189

Two versions of a fine "en face" portrait to finish the nostalgic start of the new photo shoot with lovely Iris. Doing a second photo shoot is always easier than the first, especially for the model but also for the photographer. When we started, it really felt as if the first photo shoot was only yesterday - except for the cold in the garden :).

Iris 187

Here is an attempt to get as close to nostalgic antique photo cards as possible. Lots of editing went into this portrait, removing most of the modern elements. Iris in 1900.... The use of make up was frowned upon by the bourgeois majority but several actresses did pose that way, so why not?

Iris 186

A century ago, all glasses were tiny and this inspired the retro fashion of the 1990's and 2000's. The reason why I brought along these antique steel glasses for the photo shoot with Iris is that they might make a fine blend with the shape of her eyebrows and eyes.
Some eight years ago, I brought the oldest pair in my collection (made circa 1860) to a local optician called Danel and he fitted the frame with lenses in my prescription for reading. He had a keen interest in this unusual job and he even chose the way it was done in bygone days without charging any extra cost. When I went to the shop to pick up the glasses, his young wife was with him. I brought along several other antique glasses to show him. They were both quite interested and I mentioned that the steel glasses shown here by Iris might be near her prescription. She put her own glasses on a table, took the antique glasses, put them up, looked in the mirror and exclaimed "These are lovely and I can see perfectly through them!". Then she danced all around the shop and finally handed me the glasses. This was a very nice moment and it came back to me when seeing all these lovely portraits of Iris wearing the same pair of antique glasses.

Iris 185

The same portrait edited in sepia which was the standard for photography around 1900. Portrait photo cards from that era were made on hard paper and they are collectibles nowadays. However, it's a rare event to come across an antique photo of a lady in glasses. This has to do with the fact that glasses were unisex and not regarded a fashion item before the cat eye wave of the 1950's. Another factor is that one could get away with myopia in a society without cars, computers and so on.

Iris 184

Based on our experience during the first photo shoot, most glasses selected for the new photo shoot were made in the 1970's and 1980's. Iris has an outspoken preference for this glorious era but she kindly made an exception for these antique steel glasses made over a century ago. The lenses are a bit stronger than the model's own prescription but Iris was well able to bridge the -1.00 gap without any visual strain.

Iris 183

Last summer, lovely Iris did a wonderful photo shoot for me in Nel's sunny garden. We ran out of time before she had posed in all the glasses that we selected. So I kept the unused pairs in a box, waiting for an opportunity to finish the photo shoot. This looks like an indoor portrait but the new photo shoot took place in Nel's garden. Definitely a cold place in December but Iris' gorgeous looks can easily make an iceberg melt.

Iris 182 (preview)

Photo shoot: December 10th, 2014
Location: Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Glasses; Gan Aimh, antique, made of steel, with straight arms, circa 1900
Rx glasses: L=R: -3.25
Rx model: L: -2.00; c-0.25 v / R: -2.50