Toni Frissell photograph entitled Weeki Wachee Spring - Florida - Photograph shows underwater view of a woman in a long gown, floating, face up.
It’s a haunting image. It stays in the mind partly because of the questions it raises: Why is the woman in the water? Why is she wearing an evening gown? Why is she in that semi-rigid pose? At first glance you might think she’s dead, but that outstretched-arm pose shows that she’s not. There’s a somewhat menacing, foreboding quality to the image, due to it’s shadowy blacks, whites, and grays and also to the underwater bottom beneath her which almost appears to be reaching up to drag her down. I first saw this image attached to the Bill Evans/Jim Hall jazz album from 1962 called Undercurrent. The title added to the mystery and darkness of the image – was she about to be pulled in by an undercurrent? Yet, she doesn’t look especially scared or anxious to me, which tempers the foreboding and adds more depth (no pun intended) to the story in our minds that we might attach to the photo. In actuality, the picture was taken by photographer Toni Frissell in 1947 at the mermaid attraction Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida, as part of a fashion photography series. According to auction site Christie’s a print sold (no sale date given) for 12,500 British Pounds (approx. $18,000) and a written caption called it “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” though it’s more commonly referred to as “Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida, 1947.” - Rob Caldwell
Size: 3500px × 3500px
Photo credit: © photo-fox / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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