Vintage Photography

Images from a cogged box. A camera reveals hips and ankles, ribbons decorously draped over a contrived modesty. An artist has added a color tint, their cheeks are rosy, their lips red, a patchwork of painted glow. Half revealed bosoms flush and bloom. Pauses in an upper room. A warm lamp licks, feathers and brocade are adjusted. The girls choreograph next moves. A gentleman photographer toggles knurled brass knobs throws a veiling drape over his head and mind. The models are beyond this moments capture, they are sealed by silence, yet their images, their one-act legacy, is an amber inclusion raised up as a photograph for all to admire in secret.