Willard Suitcases / Margaret D / Question * Update!
Yesterday we had a very productive day shooting more of Margaret D’s possessions. Every once in a while, something completely unexpected pops up. Among the many photographs in Margaret’s collection was this picture postcard. It was so unlike everything else that she had that it was a bit of a shock. There was no information on the back, but I thought I immediately knew the identity of the woman in the bathing suit. Peg wasn’t so sure. So I am opening it up for all of you to help us figure out who this is. In a few days, I will post my guess, along with more images from the shoot. As I mentioned before, Margaret came to Willard with almost an entire household. It will take us months to get through it all, but is a remarkable look into her life.
Wow, my sister Karen nailed it. Ann Miller. Look in the comments to see the other responses. Here is the original that she tracked down on the web.
Thanks Sis! And I owe Peggy a beer. My money was on Bess Myerson.
Willard Suitcases / LaVerne W and abcnews.com
This photograph is from the last shoot of 2014. LaVerne’s case held an amazing collection of postcards from Europe and some very interesting personal photographs. / Due to scheduling issues, Peg and I and won’t be able to get back to the project until later this month, but we are on the home stretch with the suitcases. I would estimate that we have photographed at least 350 of the roughly 400 cases and it feels great. The next phase (along with continuing to edit and upload to the site) will be to start talking to publishers and galleries.
Some very good news about coverage of the work. In mid December I started to see an up tic in traffic on the web, and I have been receiving lots of interest and great feedback. Just this morning abcnews.com ran a selection of the images. It is featured quite high on their main page and here is the direct link. Thanks so much to Kate at ABC News for her interest.
And a very interesting site in Brazil just ran a long article on the project. The InstitutoMoreiraSalles (IMS) runs an online magazine called ZUM and they did a great job putting the piece together. Here is the link. If any of you read Portuguese, let me know how it sounds.
TEDx Martha’s Vineyard
I’m back from the TEDx event at the Vineyard. It was an intense couple of days and was really interesting. Aside from my usual anxiety about presenting the project to people, my biggest concern was how to get 10 20 x 24 inch framed prints from my house to the venue. It all worked out, but it was a bit nerve wracking.
I was really happy that I was only showing prints, and not doing a formal presentation. I travel around and talk about the suitcases quite a lot, but mostly in give and take type of situations. The idea of standing up and delivering a 15 minute presentation still seems a bit intimidating. It was really helpful though to watch how others talk about their work in this type of format, and I learned a ton about how I want to refine my presentations.
Here’s Jon Ronson giving his talk. I had read “The Psychopath Test” and seen “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and was happy to get the chance to hang out with him. So many creative and stimulating people were a part of the event, and the organizers did a great job setting up time for the participants to relax and talk about our work. It was an honor to be asked to a part of it and I am really grateful to all involved, especially Katy Decker who is an amazing bundle of energy and sweetness. It was also fantastic that my dear friend Sue Jackson, her husband Rick, and their friend Joanie made the trip over from the Cape. It meant so much to me to have familiar faces there.
The Vineyard is a really lovely place and as I hadn’t been there in years, it was great to be back.
It was only slightly weird that since the President was in residence for his vacation, the Coast Guard was out in force. I would guess it was just for training purposes, but there were three chase boats that shadowed us back to Wood’s Hole and it felt a bit strange to see a manned 50 caliber machine gun so near to the ferry.
I am hoping to post more here over the next week. Thanks, as usual, for following.
Willard Suitcases / John R
Near the end of a day’s shooting yesterday I asked Peg how many suitcases she thought we had photographed. She went to her computer and checked the database. We were up to 248 (out of 420) with two left to do before we shut down for the day. So we are well past the halfway point, and I was really cheered that we have made it so far. I shot the first case in March of 2011 and haven’t really been paying attention to the numbers, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see our progress.
John’s briefcase is particularly interesting, with a varied collection of items. All of the onionskin papers in the background are English language word and sentence exercises. It is possible he worked at General Electric for a time as he saved the pension and insurance plan brochures. And he was clearly a fan of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, Dwight Eisenhower, Mickey Rooney as well as cheesecake shots of women. The reporter’s notebook is especially interesting as it is full of a stream of conscious like composition in his beautiful handwriting.
Thanks for all the support and interest in the project. Cheers, Jon
Willard Suitcases / Margaret S.
We had a very productive day shooting the cases yesterday. We made it through another box, and it continues to feel like we are making real progress. For the second week in a row, I was knocked out by a case when I opened it up. This one had the classic type of latch that makes such a familiar sound when you slide the buttons to release the locks. And I really liked the design and pleasant shade of grey.
Whoa, what a case!
Margaret S came to Willard on 6 June, 1967 and went to Ward 2 in the Hatch Building.
I have just cleared the $8,000 mark on the Kickstarter appeal, and I am very grateful for the support. We still have a long way to go before we reach our goal so I would really appreciate anything that could be done to spread the word. Thanks for following.
Willard Suitcase #22
This appears to be the oldest case in the collection.
Josephine S. was 25 years old when she was admitted to Willard in 1898.
There weren’t a whole lot of her possessions in this case, but what was there was pretty amazing.
A few photographs, 3 books, and not much more.
The hairbrush is quite lovely as is the small piece of fabric with her name and some numbers written on it (by I presume the staff at Willard). The plate is hand painted.
What was most interesting and touching was this wedding invitation postmarked “1906”. Since she was from Canandaigua, it is possible that the Lapham family thought she could attend.
I was also interested in this copy of “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. I looked and it is a first edition (at least of this printing). Dust jacket and all.
Josephine died at Willard in 1973 at the age of 100.
I will be back shooting tomorrow and will post something later in the week. Thanks for following.
American Society of Picture Professionals
In March I was contacted by Jain Lemos from the ASPP.
She had seen the Salon piece on the suitcases just as she was putting the finishing touches on the latest issue of their quarterly magazine. Jain knew that it would be very last minute, but we managed to select images and I wrote 400 words about the project. I loved her idea of featuring the preservation of the suitcases and contents, especially how the New York State Museum spent so much time and care on the cataloging and conservation aspect. Yesterday I received a few copies directly from the printer and the story looks great. They used a cropped shot of the glycerine bottle on the contents page, and as you can see above, eight shots were used in the spread. The magazine is available only to members, but the story should be up online in a month or so. It is a really great organization and not just for photographers; many members are picture editors and others who work directly with images in other ways. If you work with images in any way, it might be a good idea to check them out.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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