Antoinette Frissell was born in Manhattan on 10 March 1907, and the world came to know her as Toni Frissell. She lived until 1988. Her work covered fashion, society portraits and Second World War reportage. Her career spanned 1930 to 1968. She worked in Europe from 1941 to 1945. She also worked in New York City.

Two portraits of Frida Kahlo beside an agave plant came from a 1937 Vogue trip to Mexico. A fashion model on the edge of a boat in Montego Bay and a woman floating in a Florida spring began as magazine pages. A portrait of a young marquess and his future duchess in Bermuda shows the society side of that same world.

Why Vogue photographed Frida Kahlo seated next to an agave plant

In 1937, Vogue's "Señoras of Mexico" feature documented the social lives of the country's elite. The writer was Alice-Leone Moats, and among the women she interviewed was Frida Kahlo. Vogue had noticed Kahlo for her distinctive personal appearance and her unusual choice of clothes. The feature produced a portrait of Kahlo seated next to an agave plant.

The feature ran in the October 1937 American edition of Vogue. In the Library of Congress record, Kahlo is captioned "Senora Diego Rivera," naming her by her marriage to the muralist rather than by her own name. In the frame, Kahlo's composed posture rests against the sharp, architectural lines of the agave, and the background stays minimal so the eye never leaves the exchange between the sitter and the plant. The print is black and white with a full range of silvery greys, which gives the textures of skin, fabric, and leaf a quiet depth.

During the shoot, Frissell made several photographs beside the same agave, including frames of Kahlo sitting, standing, and holding one of its leaves. The seated portrait survives as an original nitrate negative in Frissell's photograph collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The outdoor Vogue shoot behind Frida Kahlo standing next to an agave plant

Frissell was on Vogue's staff when she made the standing portrait of Frida Kahlo beside the same agave, as part of that 1937 assignment for "Señoras of Mexico." She disliked the traditional studio and took fashion photography outdoors. Her photographs had an almost cinematic style. She had built a reputation for active, outdoor photographs of women in society. The standing Kahlo portrait was magazine work, not a private sitting.

Vogue introduced Kahlo as Diego Rivera's wife.

The standing portrait survives as a black-and-white film negative in her collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. A Frissell photograph from the Vogue feature was later shown in the exhibition Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving. The exhibition's guide was published by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Fashion model on edge of boat during a Jamaica fashion assignment

In 1946, Frissell photographed fashion at Montego Bay, Jamaica. The result included a photograph of a fashion model sitting on the edge of a rowing boat, with a man rowing behind her.

A very similar image from the same shoot appeared in Harper's Bazaar in November 1946, which shows how these location pictures were put to work on the magazine's fashion pages. The photograph itself is held in the Toni Frissell collection at the Library of Congress as a nitrate negative, and the archive's print copy is dated November 1946. Many years later, the writer Michael Gross, author of a book on fashion photographers, chose this image among those for a Time feature that called Frissell the unsung woman who changed fashion photography.

Weeki Wachee spring from Harper's Bazaar to a retrospective book

In 1947, the year Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida first opened to visitors, Frissell photographed a woman named Kay Jones floating underwater in a long gown. The result was Weeki Wachee spring, Florida, a fashion photograph made in a natural spring rather than a studio.

Underwater fashion was already part of Frissell's practice: in October 1939, Vogue published her photograph of a fashion model underwater in a dolphin tank at Marineland, Florida. The Weeki Wachee session continued that established interest. The picture appeared in Harper's Bazaar in December 1947, serving as a fashion photograph intended for magazine readers. It later circulated beyond those pages when Sports Illustrated published it. In 1994, the photograph was chosen as the frontispiece of Photographs, 1933-1967, a retrospective book published by Doubleday after her death. The original film negative is kept in the Toni Frissell photograph collection at the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

Who were the couple in Marquess of Tavistock?

The photograph of Henry Robin Ian Russell, Marquess of Tavistock, with Henrietta Tiarks in Bermuda shows two young people who would later become the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. Russell was the heir of the 13th Duke of Bedford, and this portrait catches him before he inherited the title. The Library of Congress dates the negative to October 1958. The photograph is striking black and white with a balanced tonal range, deep blacks and crisp whites with subtle greys. The poised figures stand against a soft, luminous background, their connection underscored by the interplay of light and shadow.

Henrietta Tiarks was named Britain's Debutante of the Year in 1957, so she was already well known before marriage gave her a noble title. The couple announced their engagement at her parents' home in Hyde Park Gardens, London, when both were twenty. They married on 20 June 1961 at St Clement Danes in London, when both were twenty-one. Russell became the 14th Duke of Bedford in October 2002 and died in June 2003. Henrietta, who had lived for years as the Marchioness of Tavistock at Woburn Abbey, became the Duchess of Bedford.

Frissell disliked the studio and preferred to take her pictures outdoors. If one of these photographs has stayed in your memory, choose it for the story behind it as much as for the way it looks.

Did you know?

• Frissell was born Antoinette Frissell and later used the name Antoinette Frissell Bacon.
• She died on 17 April 1988.
• Frida Kahlo never appeared on the cover of American Vogue. Her first Vogue cover came in November 2012, on Vogue Mexico.
• In November 1938, Vogue returned to the Rivera household with a second feature titled "The Rise of Another Rivera."
• A colour transparency, a positive image on transparent film, was made from the original black-and-white negative of the Montego Bay boat picture.

Questions about Frissell and her photographs

What is Frissell best known for? She is best remembered for taking fashion photography out of the studio and into the open air, and for her photographs of women in society. She also worked as a war photographer in the Second World War.

Where can I find these photographs as posters? They come in A4, A3, A2 and A1. Orders are made in 24 to 48 hours and delivery takes 2 to 4 days across Europe. You can see them in the Photo collection.

Was Toni Frissell only a fashion photographer? No. She began in fashion and society work, but during the Second World War she photographed the war effort, and her career spanned almost four decades.

Why did Vogue photograph Frida Kahlo? The magazine noticed her distinctive appearance and unusual dress, and included her in a 1937 feature on the social lives of Mexico's elite.

How are these posters made? Each image is restored by hand without changing its original design or colours, then printed in our Barcelona workshop on 230 gsm museum-quality fine art matte paper with archival pigment inks.

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About the author

At Moryarty, we spend our days finding photographs and posters in archives, libraries and museums, then restoring them by hand and printing them in our Barcelona workshop. We print on museum-quality fine art matte paper with archival inks, and we keep our prices accessible because we believe good images shouldn't be reserved for people with high incomes. We're a European company founded in 2015, and we sell more than 2,000 vintage posters. We're fond of Frissell's outdoor photographs, and we hope these stories help you see them the way we do.

Sources

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• Frida Kahlo (Senora Diego Rivera) seated next to an agave plant, during a photo shoot for Vogue magazine, "Senoras of Mexico" – Library of Congress
• Frida Kahlo (Senora Diego Rivera) standing next to an agave plant – Library of Congress
• Frida Kahlo in Fashion – Google Arts & Culture
• Frida Kahlo's Circulating Crafts: Her Painting and Her Identities – Gail Levin
• Fashion model on edge of boat, man rowing, Montego Bay, Jamaica – Library of Congress
• The Unsung Woman Who Changed Fashion Photography – Time
• Weeki Wachee spring, Florida – Library of Congress
• Lady in the Water: 1947 – Shorpy
• Mermaid: 1939 – Shorpy
• Marquess of Tavistock Henry Robin Ian Russell and Henrietta Tiarks in Bermuda – Library of Congress
• Marquess of Tavistock photographs – Getty Images
• Milestones: Jun. 30, 1961 – Time
• Robin Russell, 14th Duke of Bedford – Wikipedia
• Henrietta Russell, Duchess of Bedford – Wikipedia
• Was Frida Kahlo on the Cover of Vogue? – nnart
• Frida Kahlo Appearances Can Be Deceiving discovery guide – Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
• Frida Kahlo standing next to an agave plant – 20x200
• Toni Frissell, Fashion model on edge of boat, Montego Bay, Jamaica, 1946 – Wikimedia Commons
• Weeki Wachee spring 10079u – Wikimedia Commons