09 On the 23rd April 1941, the local newspaper of the city of Larnaca in Cyprus reported that on a Sunday morning a woman’s head had disappeared while she was taking a walk down the pier. The article reports that the young woman was seen casually walking alone on the pier and seemed to be expecting to meet with a friend. She was wearing a crepe blue dress and matching gloves and was holding a small lady’s bag with a silver chain. The reporter goes on to say that according to people who had seen the young woman, she was a very attractive lady, although oddly enough nobody seemed to remember the colour of her hair, the shape of her eyes or any other detail concerning her face. Some people said she was wearing a hat but others were positive that she was not. According to people who were on the pier at the same time, a photographer by the name of George C., who owns a photo studio in Larnaca and who is known for taking pictures of families on Sunday mornings, approached the young woman and asked if he could take a picture of her. The woman accepted and even wrote her address on a small piece of paper so he could send her the picture once it was printed. The photographer happily agreed and immediately started setting up the picture. He looked towards the sky, calculated the direction of the light and checked the position of the sun, in order to find the perfect spot for his model. He did not want any shadows to hide her features or any strange angles to do unjust to her face. George C. unfolded his tripod, adjusted his camera and asked the young woman to stand next to a small wall which came up to her waste, about a foot off the edge of the pier. Her blue dress was in perfect harmony with the cyan sea while her fair skin reflected the warmth of the luminous magenta sky. He asked her to stand facing his left hand side and turn her head towards the camera. A classic trois quart position. He looked through the viewfinder of his camera, ready to set the speed and aperture but oddly enough George C. said that he could not see the young lady’s head. He tried to focus his camera lens several times but with no result. At about the same time, some other people observing the scene, noticed that the young woman’s head was not visible anymore but the moment of posing was so harmonious, the light so pure and her body so elegant that they did not want to cause any disturbance that might have interrupted the scene. Instead they continued to watch smiling. The photographer thinking that it would be rude to keep his model standing for a long time, proceeded to take the picture and thought that a logical
Melita Couta explanation would explain the whole situation. Perplexed and with blurred vision, he kindly waved a thank-you gesture at the lady and folded his tripod. He was utterly surprised to see that even after he had packed his camera and looked at the young lady directly, he still could not see her head. The young lady waved goodbye back at the photographer and continued slowly walking down the pier in a coquettish manner. Although it was generally acknowledged that no one could see her head, the people thought there was no need for alarm, no reason to cause a disturbance and no cause for unseemly behaviour. That would have been uncivilised. After all she was walking down the pier, occasionally stopping to look at the sea. They agreed that surely a trick of light, a bizarre reflection of the sun on the surface of the Mediterranean sea or the heat must have caused this strange illusion. According to the reporter people continued strolling and enjoying their Sunday morning until the whole matter was forgotten. The article continues to say that the reporter writing the story decided to pay a visit to the photo studio of George C. and requested to see the picture of the young lady. The photographer was quite happy to give him a copy which was published with the article in the newspaper. The reporter concludes by saying that although he was tempted to title his article “missing head”, he decided not to, as that would be bad taste and rude and most probably offend the young lady who was so gracefully posing in the picture. Instead the article is titled “young woman against blue sea”.