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While Masha Arms was photographing Gertrude Austin, a King-Smith Studio School teacher, Gertrude's daughter, Judy, amused herself by playing at the window sill. At one point during the session, little Judy pointed out the window announced "there are green monkeys in the garden." Startled and amused, Masha swung her camera around and caught the moment of wonder in Judy's face. This has always been one of the photographer's favorite photographs. Originally from Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Masha Arms arrived in Washington, DC, during the Great Depression. After buying a Model G Leica camera in 1934 and teaching herself about the technical aspects of photography, she landed a job teaching photography at the King-Smith Studio School in 1936. Masha Arms' work was published in a 1936 Washington Post review of the Junior League Gallery exhibition alongside photographs by Ansel Adams and Margaret Bourke-White. In 1941, when the United States entered World War II, Masha left Washington, married William Tyler Arms of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and moved back to New England.

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