How Old is your Headshot?

My very first professional headshot was taken by a photographer I found in the Manhattan Yellow Pages. Not bad!

My first professional headshot was taken when I was about 26. I was selling advertising space for a transportation trade publishing company, and had just gotten a promotion from selling on a quarterly directory to selling for the industry's monthly magazine, named, of all things, "Modern Railroads." 

My publisher wanted to share news of my new position in a story, and told me to get a headshot to accompany the piece.

I plucked a random name out of the Manhattan yellow pages that specialized in headshots. I remember how cool and all "I made it" I felt when I took time out of my day and headed over to her studio on the east side for my photo shoot. 

Well, blow me over with a feather. Just now, I pulled this old black-and-white photo from my office wall, where it has been living for years, and turned it over to see if there was any branding. For all I knew, it was a copy, but lo and behold, I found a sticker that said, “Please credit photo by Dianora Niccolini.”

I googled her, and it turns out she became a renowned photographer, a female pioneer in male nude photography. She has a listing of a showing at the J. Paul Getty Museum and her work  is featured in several publications. Who knew?

My favorite part of her bio comes from her Wikipedia profile which states that she was the first president of the Professional Women Photographers Association, a leading professional organization for women photographers. 

She is still in the city; perhaps she would come out of her “semi-retirement” for a fellow women’s networking/professional association leader!  It just might be time for another new headshot!