Fall means a return to the world of fashion and fabrics, as the light, brightly-hued clothes of summer give way to the darker colors, heavier materials and generally more elegant outfits of autumn. Cooler weather also means more time spent indoors watching movies. This exhibit highlights the transition from summer to fall by celebrating iconic film stars of the mid-20th century and the looks we have come to associate with them. In a playful spirit, we've chosen slightly unconventional portraits of the performers and close-up views of some very interesting textiles.

This is the text on one of the current displays in the Mid-Manhattan Library Picture Collection. In the few weeks this exhibit has been posted, it has reminded us that a picture of an actor can evoke widely varying memories from different people. Groups of people look at the pictures and start talking about which of a performer's films or shows they've seen, often also recalling at what point in their own lives they saw them. Even the staff members who made the exhibit were not immune to this.

For example, on seeing the chosen picture of Robert Mitchum, one recalled him as the vengeful preacher with "love" and "hate" tattooed on his knuckles in the film Night of the Hunter, while the other thought of the naval officer who was the main character in the TV miniseries Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Few mass art forms are absorbed in such a personal way by viewers as is film, and it's very interesting to work at the desk in the Picture Collection and overhear what the public says about our exhibit's theme and its choice of images.

This post was co-created with Jay Vissers, Mid-Manhattan Library, Art and Picture Collections