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Sylvia Plath collections: Photographs from the Kathryn Irene Glascock Poetry contest records

The Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, featured in posts on 21 June and 27 September, have a selection of images available online as part of their digital collections.

As part of their Glascock Poetry Contest records, they have made available two photographs of Plath. One is from 1955, as a contestant. The second is from 1959, as a judge.

Provided that the links stay consistent, if you click here you will see a search result for the word "Plath".

The 1959 picture was new to me; the 1955 is amongst my least favorite and likely the least flattering photograph of Plath out there.

If the link above does not work, this one should take you straight to the 1959 image.

If the link above does not work, this one should take you straight to the 1955 image.
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  1. Anonymous15 October, 2007 14:48

    What a great search tool! I love that you can zoom in. I've come across people looking for a picture that shows the scar on her left cheek and there does seem to be a bit of a shadow on the left side of her face in the 1959 photo that could be a scar.

    That 1955 shot is awful.

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  2. Anonymous12 February, 2009 05:03

    I hadn't seen the 1959 photograph anywhere. She looks sad in it. The 1955 is truly dreadful, somehow managing to make her look dumpy and almost middle-aged. But the pose they were asked to adopt feels very artificial. All poses are, of course, but this one in particular.

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