Precedent had been set employing Dorothy Tucker (1899-1986) as a model for photographic equipment. In 1907, C.R. Tucker’s photograph of his daughter holding a cat was published as an advertisement in Camera Work and other photographic journals. This was for Bausch and Lomb-Zeiss Tessar lenses.

This series of portraits were taken later however. With the verso of the mounts all including the designation “621-B” in blue editor’s pencil: for entrant # and category, they are believed to have been entries for one of Kodak’s annual advertising contests, open to amateurs nationwide. Surviving prints held by this archive show Dorothy wearing different outfits, including two different hats as well as a sailor-type dress with scarf and another outer jacket in the series.

Here, Dorothy holds the camera’s bulb shutter and cracks a smile as she looks directly back at her father taking his own exposure. The camera Dorothy holds is believed to be the 3A model Kodak. The concrete-block background of this print and the others shows she stood outside the family home at 90 Third street in the New Dorp section of Staten Island. It’s unknown if any of these resulting photographs would be judged prizewinners.

Charles Rollins Tucker, 1868-1956.

See our in-depth blog posts with links below: Revealed: C.R. Tucker: Restless Wanderer with a Camera, & Rescued: Dorothy Tucker: For the Love of a Daughter, to learn more.