Livia

Frederick Sommer worked in Arizona for more than fifty years, rarely photographing portraits. Yet when his friend introduced him to fresh-faced Lydia, pictured here as Livia, who lived across town in Prescott, Arizona, he made this striking image. Sommer brought a textural and weathered background to the sitting and placed it behind Lydia to contrast with her crisp white dress and clear, bright eyes. He also positioned Lydia on a platform so that she was eyelevel with the camera, but her intense gaze fixed on Sommer, who, at six-feet tall, towered above her behind the camera.