This unknown figure stands confidently with hands on her hips and directing her gaze to the right with a slightly bemused smile. The model is dressed in a dark jacket embellished with light colored scroll work on the long cuffs, pockets, and fur lined collar. Her simple "V" necked dark dress, is accentuated with a double looped string of pearls. The model has the iconic 1920’s bobbed haircut that is partially covered by a wide brimmed dark hat. The light background ensures the figure has complete prominence.

This portrait of an unknown vaudevillian actress offers plenty for the eye to explore. A layer of black tulle is draped over her head, creating a loose hood that encloses the rest of her torso. The folds and shadows of the material distort her percieved nude figure beneath while also inciting intrigue. The material does not obscure her face, however, which looks up and away while offering the viewer a profile of her contemplative expression.

Valeska Suratt was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. She became known as “The Vampire Woman” on the silent screen and appeared in vaudeville with Billy Gould. She began acting in film after being noticed by producer Edward Edelston. The “flapper age” put an end to her obsolete vampy style resulting in her early retirement from the stage. In this photograph, she wears a black coat over a white satin blouse that billows out from under her coat sleeves. Her headwear rests directly above her eyes, taking the place of her eyebrows and enhancing her direct expression.

Valeska was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. She became known as “The Vampire Woman” on the silent screen and appeared in vaudeville with Billy Gould. She began acting on film after being noticed by producer Edward Edelston. The “flapper age” put an end to her obsolete vampy style resulting in her early retirement from the stage. In this portrait, her face is wrapped in a band of black lace that singles out her facial features from the rest of her body, emphasized by the contrasting texture of her smooth skin beneath the lace.

The Duncan Sisters were American actresses and motion picture figures of the 1920s. They were 12 and 14 when they entered vaudeville in 1914. They performed, as the Duncan Sisters, and were noted for their radio personas, “Topsy and Eva”. Later Rosetta and Vivian would find greater success, as a stage duo, with the act “Topsy and Eva”. Rosetta played the part of Topsy. In a contemporary context, this character is viewed as an insensitive role, as the persona was portrayed in blackface. Her older sister Vivian played the more subdued and innocent Eva.

American silent film actor Wallace Reid was referred to as “the screen’s most perfect lover.” Reid born in St. Louis, Missouri, had theatrical roots stemming from both sides of his parentage. Reid’s mother, Bertha Westbrook, was a stage actress, and his father, James Halleck Reid, was a playwright and actor. Reid’s noted good looks and physique allowed his career in front of the cameras to flourish. Though happy to be an on-screen presence, Reid was just as comfortable behind the scenes as writer, cameraman and director.

This portrait depicts Zaina Curzon a performance artist from the 1912 "Ziegfeld Follies". Curzon is captured in an intimate pose with her figure filling the entirety of the space. She is dressed with a lace adorned white dressing gown and matching shawl looped in the crook of her left arm. Curzon clasps a small bedside clock to her chest. The expression on her face reflects that of momentary contemplation. Her thick dark hair spills down her back and shoulders. The dark backdrop provides significant contrast to the model as she become more pronounced and almost luminescent.

Trixie Friganza was born with the name Delia O'Callahan in Grenola, Kansas. She was a comedian with a unique and gentle sense of humor. Trixie was a large woman and often used her weight as a subject of her comedy. In this 1919 photograph, Hixon has manifested the stoic beauty of Trixie as a vaudeville performer. She is dressed in a sateen gown trimmed with fur at the shoulders, wrists, and bottom. Her hat is fur, feather, and trimmed with sateen. Trixie gazes boldly, yet kindly, at the viewer.

Ansel Adams was a pivotal 20th-century photographer and environmentalist of the American landscape. After extensive travel through the West, Adams developed an eye for the grandeur and beauty of the world around him and used photography as his means for communicating it. His website remembers him as such: "Adams was an unremitting activist for the cause of wilderness and the environment.