The scene is a public swimming pool in Queens, NY, shortly after our arrival as immigrants in 1948. I say "our" for good reason, because the girl in front of me was equally a passenger on the trip from Czechoslovakia, and she was besides likewise a Holocaust survivor along with one of her sisters, also with her. The sister was in fact the one who snapped the picture. Both are on one of the shipboard pictures; the younger one, seen here, is there on the far right, and her sister is third from the right.
There is more to this. I fell hopelessly in love with this blue-eyed sweetheart, named Olga, but the relationship didn't get anywhere. More now on the previous page.
By coincidence, the girl pictured here with me and in several succeeding photos was also named Olga. We were both patients at the National Jewish Hospital, and she was a Latin-American girlfriend (the hospital was of course not sectarian). She was very photogenic, which is why all the pictures.
A picture of her made possible by the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
With another pretty girl who was a patient at the hospital.
Her cuteness is quite apparent here. These color films luckily did not fade with time.
She indeed seemed to look good whatever pose she assumed (I usually ask my subjects to do something that comes naturally, instead of looking straight into the camera). By the way, she was a gifted Flamenco dancer, using castanets.
Another graceful stance.
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Dressed differently.
The Rocky Mountains offered a variety of scenery.
The mountains are not seen here, but I like to look for possibilities of a picture in simple things.
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The first of these four smaller images appears to be a double exposure, and I can't remember the location; but it has a nice mood regardless.
The second is a self-portrait in my rented room, with my big bumpy nose standing out, especially in that highlight. I don't know why a profile but might as well not hide things.
At least the donkey in the third picture seems to have a bigger nose.
The fourth picture was taken in the old Colorado mining town called Central City, in the Rocky Mountains; the sign on the door says "THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR", "Adults 10¢" and "Children Free". That floor is a renowned tourist attraction there among others.