This photo symbolized the free-wheeling hippie era. I had long mistakenly supposed the young topless woman so enthralled with the music was at Woodstock, but today I discovered thanks to 2011 Daily Mail report that the flower child had a name.
Jennifer Wilson.
Her photo had been taken at a music festival in 1978 shortly after her move from Essex to London. She was not on drugs. The twenty-five year-old had recently divorced her husband. Concerts were something to do.
"I seemed to be photographed at pop concerts every time I went. I used to wear unusual clothing with lots of colours - I still do but I'm trying to tone it down now I'm older. I think it was at Reading Festival, while dancing to a band like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Genesis - it could have been any band like that. I used to love music when I was at school. The teacher used to tell us to close our eyes when listening to a piece of music so you can hear it properly and not get distracted by what's going on around you. I still close my eyes now when listening to a new record. Sometimes the photo is used with the wrong story, like drugs or promiscuity, that insinuates all sorts of things I don't like. I didn't take drugs, I was too naive. And I wasn't even promiscuous. I couldn't believe I was the one who was photographed. It was the happiest time of a my life. I met lovely people. It was all love and peace."
This photo captured the era.
It has helped keep the spirit alive.
"I'm shocked that the photo has been used this long."
ThE Age of Aquarius has just begun.
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