Lily of the Red Desert Rocks (An Anonymous Blonde Girl and Her Domestic Help)

Have you ever been to a flea market or other public venue sale like a garage or estate sale where you’ve come across personal photos? I’ve been to a handful and if I see snapshots ~ in some cases slides ~ I’ve bought them up because I find them so interesting. Photographs are data points of moments in time and it’s intriguing to imagine the stories behind them. Perhaps one day I’ll do a project with my loot of anonymous images.

I recently came across this square format photo that I got at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in August, 2014. I’m not sure of the context, of course, but it’s fun to imagine the scenario at the instant the shutter clicked.

A longtime Arizona resident and friend of mine, Chris McGuire, who I queried about this image said, “The picture looks to be from the late 50’s early 60’s maybe. It could be Camelback (Mountain), over by the head, but there are also private houses along Lincoln drive between Piestewa Peak and Camelback or Mummy Mountain on the north side of Paradise Valley.  It looks to be in this area. She could just be posing because her parents made her go to Phoenix on vacation, and she really wants to be out with her friends. I’m looking at her half smile.”

I was thinking of a scenario along the same lines. I’m calling this found pic Lily of the Red Desert Rocks. If you look closely you can also see a maid or other domestic servant in the background, on her way to any number of awaiting tasks. In the rare chance that someone may know who this is and/or when this was, I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks so much for visiting the blog. If you’re interested in staying in-the-loop, kindly join my email list to learn about travel photo updates, limited fine art photography releases and exclusive sales. Wishing you all good vibes.

~L