Too Short A Season: It has been my goal to manage this site so that models and artists understand that their work is presented with respect, regardless of content. Because we are examining the portrayal of little girls in our society, I felt it important that Pigtails in Paint should be a place where women can be heard and listened to and that they feel safe doing so. On occasion, former models have come forward privately or publicly to share anecdotes or request mementos of their work. Recently Makenzie, a cousin of Samantha Gates, came forward to tell me she was starting a site dedicated to Sam and wanted help contacting artists who used her image in their work. It was fun learning about the various jobs Sam did that no one outside the family knew about and will hopefully one day appear on that site. But after exchanging only a few messages, I got an email from one of her friends Amanda (who has been commenting on this site lately) telling me that Makenzie’s stomach cancer has taken a turn for the worse and that she was in the hospital. I have been informed that she passed away last month survived by a loving extended family and many friends. It is too bad I did not get to know Makenzie better and hear more stories of her girlhood memories. This is the third person I know this year who succumbed to cancer, all before their time: first my youngest aunt, then Poli Papapetrou and now Makenzie. It is said that the world changes one funeral at a time. But what kind of world will we have when it is the good people who leave us?
Life as a Girl Decade after Decade: Pip uncovered an interesting project intended as a book series sharing the testimonial of girls in America living in various decades the past 100 years. The first book, Girlhood in America, shares over 50 stories of life told by the girls themselves and includes a number of photographs as well.
https://www.zhihu.com/question/294196112/answer/518005323 I found these!
Thank you. You are especially lucky if you can read Chinese. You will need to scroll down a bit to get to the Samantha Gates images. -Ron
Thank you Ron, for those kind words. I know Makenzie would appreciate them.
There is an incredibly sad irony in the subtitle on that Samantha Gates site:
“It’s not easy being an angel”
It was actually Ron who came up with the title. Do you like our site Jerrold?
Indeed. I had intended to make it the title of a follow up piece on Gates. I got the idea from anecdotes that hinted at how exhausting modeling can be even though it was largely enjoyable. People often forget that it is real work. Anyway, with all the irons I have in the fire, I was perfectly happy to have the Samantha and Stefan archive make use of the title and I take it as a compliment. -Ron
YES, I like it very much.
The bad news [about Makenzie] was shocking and deeply saddening.
Will the site now be continued and added to?
Glad you like it Jerrold,
Yes, updates will come in as I get them. Right now, we are waiting on never before seen Alice photographs. I’m not sure if we can display them all, but we will show as many as we can, so stay tuned!
And yes, Makenzie’s death was tragic to us all. She was a great person and an even better friend!