I've just had this c. 1927 photo of Dorothy Dransfield printed from an original negative in the collection of my cousin, Diana Warren. It may have been taken on the same occasion as the other photo of Dorothy wearing the same dress, shoes, hat and carrying the same handbag. I'm not sure if the photo has been flipped. Her shadow is slanting in a different direction to its partner photo. Any ideas about the location would be very much appreciated. Is that a church to the far left?
Date picture taken
1920s
Shows person / people
Comments
The photo is not flipped…
The photo is not flipped.
Reason being I highlighted the previous sloping right shoulder and more level left shoulder which is present in this photo. I suspected an underlying idiopathic scoliosis.
One interesting thing is I think I now know why the previous photos showed a closed thin lipped smile - I can see her teeth here and she has a skeletal class 2 malocclusion. The upper jaw is more developed relative to the lower jaw (maxillary prognathism) or the lower jaw less developed relative to the upper jaw (mandibular retrognathism) or a combination of both. The result is overcrowding of the teeth in the upper jaw and protrusion. Class II skeletal malocclusion and scoliosis are two distinct conditions that can sometimes be related. Studies suggest a possible association between certain types of scoliosis and specific malocclusions, particularly Class II malocclusion with a tendency towards midline deviations and lateral crossbites.
Anyway....back to the identity of the location. At least you know for a certainty it's the right way round!
Right way round - good to know!
Poor Dorothy! I hope that none of the above ailments caused her any pain. What would we do without your medical expertise, David! At least Dorothy lived till the age of 80.
I was uncertain about the flipping because of the direction of the shadow and the fact that the handbag is in a different hand to the other photograph.
I look forward to everybody's ideas about the location.
The other thing worth noting…
The other thing worth noting is she appears to have a simple goitre. This may be an euthyroid or simple non-toxic goitre, that is the thyroid gland is enlarged but there is no evidence of thyroid dysfunction. She does not look particularly hypo- or hyperthyroid. The goitre may be idiopathic (unknown) or due to iodine deficiency. I assume she grew up in Hong Kong and iodised salt would not have been present a hundred years ago in Hong Kong. Despite its costal location (foods rich in iodine like seaweed, molluscs, fish etc), a study 100 years forwards in time from when the above photo was taken show that there is an overall iodine deficiency in both sexes in the HK population.
Eastern House, 10 Hart…
The architecture of the building is similar to this building in Hart Avenue. This may suggest the photo was taken in the area of Tsim Sha Tsui/Jordan. This is indirectly supported by the fact she spent some of her schooling at Central British School on Nathan Road, so this is probably a teenage Dorothy.
Late teens?
From her date of birth and her appearance, I've assumed that Dorothy was about seventeen in this photo.
This makes me think - if the…
This makes me think - if the facade of the building in the background is such, then Dorothy is standing just inside the sandy driveway of a property, and the main road is running perpendicular to Dorothy's right side.
So…whose property is that? Or is that public property and that was the destination for that day's events?
Yes, the driveway actually…
Yes, the driveway actually rises slightly from the pavement/main road and it's not level. The driveway is wide enough to not have a gate. Able to fit a car.
The shadows are long. And if there is significant sunlight bathing Dorothy it means there is no building or trees of significant height behind the photographer or Dorothy would be in shadow or we would see shadows in the foreground and there is none. So is the property in question at a crossroads for example?
Abundant foliage and cascade of mature dark green leaves. Cool enough to have a long-sleeved Dorothy. Late summer/autumn? - are we looking at a September/October date? Any special events in the Warren/Olson calendar around then in the late 1920s?