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Friday, July 31, 2020

My Rosemary's Bird Dress



Thursday July 30 - Kitsilano - photograph - Rebecca Stewart


One of the particularly special and wonderful aspects of portrait photography is to photograph your subject more than once. It is even better when lapses of time have occurred between sessions.

On February 8, 1968 a judge in Coyoacán Mexico married my Rosemary and me. This was our third attempt. The two previous judges had told us that since Rosemary was Canadian and I was Argentine we needed permission from the Secretaría de Gobernación. This third time my mother did not show up. My good friend Raúl Guerrero de Montemayor was one of the witnesses, the other one, we flagged on the street. The judge had no opposition to the ceremony as I had shown up a few days before with a good bottle of French cognac.

April 1969 - University of Mexico Botanical Garden - Photographs - Andrew Taylor

On all the three occasions Rosemary wore the white bird dress. I personally cut it short (and hemmed it) so I could show off her splendid legs.


Lauren Stewart - 2016 - Fuji Instax print

Some 52 plus years later, last Thursday, July 30, our granddaughter Rebecca (22) came over to make Rosemary up. Rosemary had her hair done the day before.

I made the request that she wear the bird dress. While it was a tad tight around her chest the dress fit nicely.


With Rebecca - self timer - I was about to close my eyes