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| Rosemary Elizabeth Healey Waterhouse-Hayward - 1969 |
I married my Rosemary on February 8th, 1968 in Coyoacán, México. I had met her not quite two months before on December 15th 1967.
In early 1969 I photographed her nude with my Asahi Pentax S-3 and a 55mm f-2 lens. I did not quite know what I was doing but I did well. I did not photograph her below the waist. I was conservative, ashamed to have even asked. That was the last time that I photographed Rosemary nude. Then by the time we arrived in Vancouver I 1975 I started taking nude photos on Wreck Beach and then scores of exotic dancers and by now, 28 January, 2026 I may have over 600 women in my files.
Unless you are a photographer of that old school (analog they call it) you might not understand the level of intimacy in being in a dark room, projecting the nude image on paper and then seeing it emerge in the developer tray.
If you are part of the new school (digital it is called and I am also there now) you might understand the extra level of intimacy when you have the image enlarged in your monitor and you remove blemishes, dust and control your contrast. You see in a person’s face something that might not be equalled except in bed.
Scanning the picture you see here of my Rosemary, this portrait photographer somehow, upon working on it, it almost seems like she is there in the viewfinder of my Pentax. She never did talk much so I cannot hear her voice. I just keep looking at the fact, that in spite of her almost smile, she still has that sad look that my Rosemary always had (look into blog link above).
I insist on harping over and over that Jorge Luís Borges writes that first times are constantly being repeated as first times.
I have one regret. Why did I not photograph this beauty nude more than once?
That is a regret I have to live with for a little while longer.
