1977c Betsy and Susan Shilling Watson – Cedar Key Realty, Double Exposure Portrait

© 2025 Walker Webb Watson, 1951. All rights reserved. · 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z

This black-and-white photograph captures Betsy (left) and Susan Shilling Watson (right) seated on a bench outside the Cedar Key Realty office in Florida. The signage behind them reads “OFFICE – Cedar Key Realty Inc. – REG. REAL ESTATE BROKER,” anchoring the image in a specific moment of mid-century Gulf Coast commerce. Both women wear summer attire—hats, sunglasses, and relaxed expressions—suggesting a warm climate and casual camaraderie. A faint double exposure overlays the scene with what appears to be a street or beach view, adding a dreamlike quality and evoking the layered memory of place and time. Taken in 1977 and curated by Walker Webb Watson, the image blends documentary realism with artistic experimentation. It reflects the early visual language of Watson’s archive, where family, architecture, and regional identity converge. The Cedar Key Realty office, likely tied to the Shilling family’s builder legacy, becomes both a literal and symbolic backdrop for generational continuity and coastal life. This image is part of the “Florida Coastline & Family Legacy” series within the Walker Webb Watson Family & Regional Archive. It complements other blocks featuring Susan, George and Marsha Shilling, and builder-era documentation from Orlando to Satellite Beach.