Musical accompaniment: My Funny Valentine performed by Ella Fitzgerald

This woman in this picture is Miss Dorothy Catherine Draper.

The picture was taken by her brother John Draper in 1840. Draper took the first known photographs of living people. His sister Dorothy was required to dust her face with white flour to enhance the contrast and pose unblinking for a 65-second exposure. (This is much harder than we might think. On average, people blink 15-20 times per minute!)

Miss Draper was a good subject. She was about 33 years old when this picture was made. Apart from her ability to keep completely still for over a minute, she has an interesting face. My guess is she is a calm but intense type of person. She looks like a someone who would probably gravitate to being an observer—someone who could easily size up a person or a situation. I would say she has a very modern face. That’s not always the case in older photos. If you changed her clothes and hat, she looks like someone you might meet anywhere.