In our May issue, I told the inspiring story of Nadia Price, a remarkably talented woman who opened her own studio in Cooper-Young in the 1940s and quickly become one of the best — and best-known — photographers in Memphis.
I came across this photo of Nadia, which originally appeared in the November 28, 1950, issue of the Memphis Press-Scimitar, and wanted to share it with you, as a kind gesture to my half-dozen readers. It's an interesting shot, to me, because you have to remember that during this period commercial photography in Memphis was basically a man's world, with very few women behind a camera (though plenty worked in front of it, as models), but Nadia held her own.
Here she's attending a special meeting of the newly formed Memphis Photographers Association, of which she became a longtime member, and the man at the right is Hal Woolwine of Dallas, Texas, explaining a new lighting system that had been developed by DuPont. At left is another Memphis photographer, Warren G. Bolick, who was president of the MPA that year. The picture was taken at The Peabody, and the caption makes a rather snarky comment, if you ask me: "The Association was organized in June and this was their first full-scale meeting. Despite the fact that some 50 members showed up, only one of them, Pauline Schaedle, brought a camera. Miss Schaedle made this picture."
Well, good for her. At least we got a good photo of Nadia.
PHOTO COURTESY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS LIBRARIES
