Mary reloaded

[K-453]

My trial to reconstruct her face with Photoshop. Do not expect much!

I just removed the bigger injuries. Some parts are left unfinished, because I was not sure about them. The nose is only 'hinted at'. But I think I finally found her eyes ...

Colouring did not work because her lips are too mauled, so I left it black & white.

[K-453]

Oops, large file, I try again:

[lynn cates]

good work

Hello K. Thanks for posting this. You do good work.

Cheers.
LC

[kensei]

I'm always struck by how dark Mary's hair looks, when she is described as "ginger haired." Apparently it was far from cherry red, but maybe closer to auburn?

[K-453]

Red hair can be quite dark, it also depends on the lighting. Just look at the photos here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair

Very different colours, and all of them regarded as 'red'.

[Mrs. Fiddymont]

I think it's impossible to tell now what color Mary's hair was. Just look at some of her nicknames: "Black Mary", "Ginger", "Fair Emma"...do those refer to her coloring (all of which are contradictory BTW!) or are they just references to some long-lost detail about her? Really it's very strange that no one who knew her ever actually mentioned the color of her hair, since they did go to the trouble of saying that she had lovely thick hair down to her waist. Would it have killed them to mention the color?!

[kensei]

We could compare K-453's reproduction with the portrait of MJK done by Jane Coram (under "Jane Coram's pics" in "Creative Writing and Expression"). In my opinion they are not very similar. I remember Jane stating that she based her illustration on a study of the mutilated face in the photo combined with typical Irish female features. (Jane, if you read this, please correct me if I'm not remembering that quite correctly.) She portrayed the hair as kind of honey-colored. If Mary was described by someone as ginger haired, it's my understanding that "ginger" means some shade of red (though probably not the flaming orange sported by Heather Gramm in "From Hell"). It's truly a shame that we have no photo of her alive, and I'm convinced that she must have been photographed at some point in her life so perhaps one will surface some day to give us a true representation of her face. But as far as her hair goes, maybe it's a trick of lighting that makes it look so dark in the photo. What seems more certain is its style- her hair is clearly pulled up and back, styled as if for a night out on the town. If it was supposed to be so long and thick, it would be all over the place otherwise. And despite destroying her entire face, the Ripper has apparently made an effort not to disturb that perfect hair. One more reason to shudder about him.

[lynn cates]

up

Hello Mrs. Fiddymont, Kensei. Interesting about her hair length. Not sure it is in evidence in any of the photographs. Perhaps it is "done up"?

Cheers.
LC

[John Winsett]

Nice job. The most realistic reconstruction I've seen.

[miss marple]

That looks to be quite a realistic view of Mary's face.
Mary has a strong jawline which is visible, in the photo and similar to the Police Gazette drawings of Mary. Overall the Police Gazette drawings of the victims are fairly accurate, so why not the one of Mary? No one ever comments on those drawings.
i love Jane's work but I think her picture of Mary is too beautiful and rather romantic.
I think Mary was a tall good looking woman with a strong jawline and great head 0f hair.
She also had quite slim arms from the famous photo. The description of'' buxom' may probably referred to her having a large bust, think of a figure like Jane Russell,l slim but busty!

Miss Marple

[Rubyretro]

Yes, Miss Marple -I certainly agree with your views.

About the hair -maybe it appears darker than it was because it had soaked up loads of blood ?

Mary is described as 'attractive', but I think that 'attractive' on paper (as it were)(in a fixed image) and 'attractive' in the reality are two different things. We will never get the measure of Mary because we can't see her animated and see how she interacted with other people.

[Witch]

But as far as her hair goes, maybe it's a trick of lighting that makes it look so dark in the photo.

It is pretty posible explanation. After all we have here a black&white photo, made in a badly lit room.

What seems more certain is its style- her hair is clearly pulled up and back, styled as if for a night out on the town. If it was supposed to be so long and thick, it would be all over the place otherwise.

Being the proud owner of very long hair, I suppose Mary got hers braided for a night. It's very uncomfortable sleeping with your hair wild and free, because at some point of the night you end completely tangled in it.

And thick and curly hair, gathered in a loose braid, rising near the scalp due to the movements of the head (you know, head goes down the pillow, hair goes up) could look like styled for the night out in the town, especially on the unclear photo.

[John Winsett]

Given the savage ness of the facial mutilations and quality of the pic, how do you know what is real facial features? I'm just curious of the procedure. I wouldn't know where to begin.