Frances and Mary Allen were art photographers from Deerfield, Massachusetts, who often used their relatives as models. This is Barbara Allen, one of their nieces. Her sister, Eunice, also a frequent model in their photographs, helped at the shop Frances and Mary ran to sell prints of their photographs. One day in 1917, when Barbara chose to help–a rare event, since she preferred to play outside–they sold, according to one sister’s diary, “nearly $25 of small prints, which is more than we have done for a year.” Here, Barbara is dressed as a pseudo- Puritan, her clothing being an inaccurate and stereotypical representation. The Allen sisters often used moments from Deerfield’s history as inspiration for their photographs.
Allen, Frances and Mary, photographer. Barbara Reading. Photograph. ca. 1910. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1996-14-0065-01-03/. Accessed on December 7, 2024.
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