Ruth Orkin

mural-sized, on a Masonite box mount, signed, titled, dated, and copyrighted in ink on the image, 1951, printed circa 1980 (American Girl in Italy, cover and pl. 10)

Around 1979, the photographer supervised a print run of approximately 25 photographs in this size format. Many of these were hung in the vast, two-story entrance hall and in the windows of the Rizzoli bookstore on Fifth Avenue during a show dedicated to Ruth Orkin's work . In the early 1980s, when Rizzoli moved to its present location on 57th Street, a number of these large prints were displayed there. While a number of these prints were not signed by the photographer, this print is fully signed, titled, dated, and copyrighted. This unglazed print exhibits chipping at the upper right corner and side, along with scratches and scuffing, primarily in the upper right quadrant of the print. There are also small losses of emulsion.
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This print comes originally from the collection of Joan Allen Walker, the sister of Nina Lee (Jinx) Allen Craig, the subject of the photograph.  Mrs. Walker received the print from the photographer in the early 1980s.

During the summer of 1951, photojournalist Ruth Orkin was returning to the United States from Israel via Italy, and a topic for a photo essay began to form in her mind: namely, the experiences and obstacles that women traveling alone encounter. At the Hotel Berchelli in Florence, she met a young American woman, 23-year-old Sarah Lawrence graduate Ninalee (Jinx) Allen, later Craig, who was there studying art. Ruth asked Mrs. Craig if she would be interested in being the subject of her story, and she happily agreed.

Orkin originally planned to shoot her sketching by the Arno, but on their way to the proposed site, the photographer spied a group of men in the Piazza della Repubblica. Craig says, 'Ruth ran ahead of me and out into the intersection. She took one picture, asked me to back up, and took a second.' It took all of 'about 35 seconds,' according to Mrs. Craig. Mrs. Orkin said that she spoke only to the men on the motor scooter, instructing them to tell the other men not to look at the camera. Mrs. Craig says that she was not coached by the photgrapher and that her inspiration for her demeanor was Beatrice in Dante's Divine Comedy. 'Walking about Florence, I felt I was Beatrice, with great dignity to uphold' (Shaun Considine, New York Times, April 30, 1995).