The Wonders of Google or History in a Click

I recently came across some family photos that I had stored a decade or so ago and found a picture of a tow haired boy with the face of an angel playing in his backyard in Los Angeles. The photo was signed by the photographer and dated 1944.

Without any context this could have been any little boy playing outside with the sun shining off of his hair. But what I knew about this picture was that this boy was 6 years old and German was spoken in his home. I remembered that there was some story about the photographer but I just couldn't remember it.

And that's where Google comes in.

In a matter of a couple of clicks I found this picture of the woman who photographed the little boy.

Valeska Gert, avant guard dancer from Berlin, 1924.
She made a nice photographic subject herself, didn't she?