Thread by @javilopen

"American Girl in Italy" (1951) is one of the most iconic photos of all time.

It tells a powerful story and raises big questions: is it a staged scene? were these men harassing the girl?

I'm going to tell you the true story behind this photo 🧵👇

First, take a look at it. It's fascinating. It's so rich in details that someone could become mesmerized admiring it for a long time. The girl's face is a poem.

Any photographer would kill to be able to take a photo like this at least once in their life.

It's a work of art.

The photo was taken by photographer Ruth Orkin in 1951 in Italy.

Ruth was a woman ahead of her time: at 17 years old, she got up one day, grabbed her bike, and rode across America from LA to New York, photographing her journey.

She had a natural gift.

📸 Bicycle Trip 1939

Later on, she worked at MGM Studios as the first female messenger.

She wanted to become a director of photography, but she left the position after discovering the discriminatory practices of the union, which did not allow women to be members.

📸 MGM messenger girl

In 1941, during World War II, she enlisted in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps 👩🏻💪

In 1943, she moved to New York to work as a photographer at a nightclub.

Her first big break came in 1945 when she photographed Leonard Bernstein for the New York Times.

Each of her photos is an ode to life. They caress the strings that make the human vibrate. They live.

From that point on, she had an intense career as a freelance photographer for LIFE, Look, This Week, etc.

And in 1949, she began to experiment with color.

The editor of Ladies' Home was looking for "unknown beauties," and Ruth told him: "Not only have I photographed a beautiful girl who isn't a model, but she's also doing something that all your readers will be able to identify with."

📸 She introduced the world to Geraldine Dent.

Throughout her career, Ruth photographed many celebrities. Among them were Einstein, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Marlon Brando.

Ruth's life makes for a long read. But I want to return to the initial image.

Ruth, after a magnificent career, spent the last years of her life teaching photography in New York. She passed away in 1985 after a long battle with cancer.

📸 Comic book readers

Let's return to the mysteries of the first photo: I know you're still reading because you want to know them.

The girl photographed is Ninalee Craig. An American who was 23 years old at the time of the photo.

📸 Jinx with statue

Ruth and Craig met by chance at a post office in Florence.

It was the place that was used not only for sending letters and telegrams, but also for making phone calls and exchanging money before the era of communications.

📸 Treasure Tours

Craig, after saving some money, had traveled through Europe visiting France, Spain, and England before settling in Florence to study art.

At that time, it was unusual to find Americans in Europe. Especially young women traveling alone.

Orkin and Craig became friends immediately, especially after finding out they were both staying at the same hotel where they paid $1 a night (meals included) and shared a passion for travel.

📸 Couple in MG

They were sharing experiences of traveling alone when Orkin had an idea: "Let's go!", she said, "let's go out and take pictures of what it's really like."

So the next morning, around 10, they both went out into the streets of Florence. Craig would be the "model".

The photo of Craig walking by the men that starts this thread was one of the first pictures they took.

Ruth didn't know it yet, but on her film roll was a gem that would withstand the test of time and become an icon.

With this, I reveal one of the mysteries: it was not a staged scene in a studio, but it was sought after during their walk through Florence.

"They had a lot of fun, as shown by the photograph where she looks at the statue," Orkin's daughter commented in her biography.

For two hours, they continued capturing familiar scenes from that time in Italy: cafes, statues, squares, cobblestone streets.

Craig as the protagonist in all of them.

After this, they said goodbye and their paths separated... for a long time.

Over time, the photo became an icon.

Craig passed away at the age of 91 in 2018. Throughout her life, she was asked many times:

"Were you afraid in the photo? Were you feeling overwhelmed? Were you annoyed because you couldn't walk down the street in peace?"

To which Craig always replied:

"No! I was excited. I was having the time of my life. I was Beatrice walking through the streets of Florence. I felt as if at any moment I could be discovered by Dante himself."

Craig's photo walking down the street reflects the cultural customs of the time. In Craig's words:

"Public admiration shouldn't make you nervous. Eyeing up the ladies is a popular, harmless, and flattering pastime that you'll find in many [...]"

[...] foreign countries. Gentlemen tend to be more boisterous and demonstrative than Americans, but they don't have bad intentions."

"It's far from what we tell women these days, but for its time, the mere idea of encouraging women to travel alone was progressive."

📸 Jinx in goggles

"That's what made the photos so special. They offered an uncommon view of two women, behind and in front of the camera, challenging gender roles of the time and enjoying every minute."

📸 Jinx and cars

"I look at my photo, and it takes me back to that moment. It was wonderful. I was an art student. I had no worries. I was 23 years old, and I had the world in the palm of my hand."

📸 Jinx at AMEX

Craig had an intense life. She joked that it had been "several lives in one."

First in Italy after marrying an Italian, then in Canada with her second husband, and finally, she was drawn to the emerging art scene in Toronto and found her home there.

Craig loved to talk about her six months in Europe and the day she met Orkin, a kindred spirit whose photos were able to capture the spirit of the time.

📸 Early NY Color

After this first meeting, Orkin and Craig met again many years later in the United States and became lifelong friends, until Orkin's death in 1985.

"She was an amazing woman," Craig said of Orkin. "We had a great time together."

📸 Boy Jumping

After the mysteries of the photo have been solved...

END OF THREAD

Remember to live your life with intensity. We only have one.

Thank you!

If you enjoyed it and would like me to continue writing similar threads, an RT on the first tweet of the thread will encourage me to keep doing so. Thanks! 😉👇

If you don't mind being shocked, you may also enjoy this other thread of mine 👇

And you will also enjoy this 😉👇