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Frank Margold
was born on April 15, 1958 in Jonesboro, Arkansas to Milton and
Betty Margold. Milton was a newspaper photographer and Betty was
a housewife. Frank had an older brother named Bob and an older
sister named Margaret.
Almost immediately, the young Frank showed a propensity for his father's darkroom
and the smells and the chemicals. He played with his father's old cameras and
as he got older, spent hours going through the photos his dad had taken in
the war.
In school, Frank
was a decent student but did not excel. He spent all of his time
and energies taking photos for the school newspaper. After high
school, Frank attended the University of Arkansas and studied journalism
where he focused on photo-journalism.
After graduation,
Frank moved to Memphis and worked as a freelance photographer.
He often chased ambulances and police cars in order to snap the
exclusive shots that appeared on the front page of The Commercial
Appeal. On the weekends, Frank photographed weddings and took
family portraits. As his photo studio business grew, Frank began
doing more fashion photography for Memphis area clothing stores
and department stores. He often shot the advertisements for Dillard's
or McRae's that appeared in the fold-out section in the newspaper.
This
fashion work enabled Frank to build a stable of young female
models. Ole
Miss co-eds would drive up I-55 and Frank would find them modeling
gigs in Memphis. Or country girls from Arkansas would come to town
and Frank would snap them for a local advertisement. By the time
he was in his late thirties, Frank was a viewed as a small-town
expert on beauty. Not as sophisticated or experienced as Hugh Hefner
and not as metropolitan or artistic as Herb Ritts, Frank nonetheless
was often stopped on the street by a doting mother asking him to "rate" her
beautiful daughter. Frank was usually asked for an expert decision
on just how gorgeous a young girl was and then he was immediately
asked to get her work.
Due to his reputation
as local beauty expert, Frank soon began working the pageant circuit.
He was sensational and could border on cruelty. He was known to
make pageant contestants cry, which infuriated their parents but
delighted the audience.
For the last
several years, Frank has continued his photo studio business and
representing models. He enjoys the pageants and takes his work
as a judge seriously.
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