Object number1987.53.24

Aerial View of Street, Laugharne, Wales

Date1957

Artist Rosalie Thorne McKenna (American, 1918-2003)

CultureAmerican

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 11 3/4 x 5 7/8 in. (29.8 x 15 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of the artist

On View

On view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Photograph

Terms

Carmarthenshire

InscribedOn verso, by unidentified hand, upper center in pencil: Laugharne; upper center in red ink: II; right center in pencil: 9/57 / 9004 / C1 #30; lower right corner in pencil: 87.53.24

MarkingsOn verso, partially obscured stamp upper left corner: PHOTO BY: / ROLLIE McKENNA / [copyright credit label] / Please Credit With Photo; stamped upper right: COPYRIGHT On printed label, on verso upper left: © Rollie McKenna, Photographer / 1 Hancox Street / Stonington, CT 06378 / (203) 535-0110/2126

ProvenanceGift of the artist

Vassar Exhibitions

Making a Life in Photography: Rollie McKenna

Label TextMcKenna was intimately aware of photography’s power to preserve the legacy of a creative person: Her photographs of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas helped to launch McKenna’s own career as a sought-after portraitist, yet they also ultimately overshadowed McKenna’s own authorship as a photographer. Her pictures of Thomas from 1952 and 1953 were among precious few images of the elusive writer, helping to preserve his legacy and memory despite an untimely death. Several of these pictures have been reproduced countless times in books and periodicals, not always giving credit to McKenna. The photographs she made while visiting Thomas and his family in Wales reveal her interest not in showing Thomas as a genius toiling away in seclusion, but rather as a man whose work as a writer was intertwined with his identity as a father, husband, and friend. McKenna’s friendship with Caitlin Thomas and their children continued after the writer’s death, resulting in a second visit to Wales in 1957.

DescriptionAerial view of narrow, house lined street with several people about and dog in middle of street

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu