(all images public domain)Harry Whittier Frees (1879-1953) was a nice bespectacled man with a great deal of patience. How else could he place puppies, kittens and rabbits into tiny costumes his mother made, wait for that split second when they were standing still, and then do it over and over again? Not immediately, though - he was too kind a man for that.
"Barker was Busy in the Kitchen" (above) and "Rosie and Jennie Took a Cat-Nap" (below) are only two of the many, many staged story photos Frees took during his career, using his own pets and those he rented. And you'd think I'd already have known about him, but I didn't till today.
When I first saw these, I worried a little bit that these little ones had been used without regard for how tired or scared they might be. But now that I've learned more about Frees I don't think that was the case. I'm going to send you to some blogs that know way, way more than I do about him: here's a good page, and this one is a mother lode.
2 comments:
That top photo is just TOO MUCH!
Curator I am so happy to learn that Mr Frees was a kind man. Our ape has wondered about the animals in his pictures for a long time. His postcards crop up for sale often at local antiques fairs here.
Thanks for those two links, the ape is off to read them :)
W. Wuudler
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