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. Another lace pattern, presumably applied over the photograph in the development process, further frames her face as well as the photograph itself.