In 1925, George Platt Lynes, the photographer of this image, went on a trip to Paris where he met many influential literary figures and people who would further influence his career, including this image. Some of the people he met included Gertrude Stein, Monroe Wheeler, and Glenway Westcott. These people introduced him to the literary world and helped him to discover his passion and interest for photography and taking portraits such as this one. In turn, he was then able to produce work that later influenced and inspired the likes of Robert Mapplethorpe.

Lynes also went on to have continuous romantic relationships with both Monroe Wheeler and Glenway Westcott. While he lived with Wheeler and Westcott, he still would engage in casual sex with other people. Lynes kept a daybook where he would write people’s initials when they’d had sex. Through this daybook, it has been able to be discovered that Lynes had sex with both men and women, while he preferred men. These casual encounters most likely influenced his artistic work or vice versa (his artistic work providing him with people for casual sexual encounters). Eventually, Lynes left his relationship with Wheeler and Westcott for his studio assistant Jonathan Tichenor, which didn’t last long as Tichenor left him for a woman soon after.

Bates College. “George Platt Lynes Biography.” Museum of Art, 18 May 2023, www.bates.edu/museum/exhibitions/george-platt-lynes-biography/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Brown, Elspeth H. "A Not-So-Simple Love Story." Literary Review of Canada, June 2019, https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2019/06/a-not-so-simple-love-story/. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

Yale University. “Lynes, George Platt, 1907-1955 | Archives at Yale.” Archives at Yale, archives.yale.edu/agents/people/57076. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.