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May 2, 2024

45 Beautiful Photos of Vietnamese Women Taken by Léon Busy in 1915

Léon Busy (1874–1951) was a French photographer and curator who edited and participated to numerous photo collections about colonial Indochina, Angkor and Southeast Asian daily life.


Initially a soldier (graduated from the prestigious Polytechnique school) with the French colonial troops from 1895 to 1920, he contributed to various colonial Exhibitions in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s. He came back to Indochina en 1921 to picture Angkor and Cambodia for the vast photo-and-film collection “Archives de la planète” set up by banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn. Kahn encouraged him in using the autochrome camera developed by the Lumière Brothers, which he had discovered during a 1909 screening by French photographer Jules Gervais-Courtellemont.

From 1926 to May 1931, Busy led the Photography Department of the Office indochinois de tourisme et de propagande, taking photos, working in close collaboration with Vietnamese photographers such as Ngoc Chan, Nguyen Huy Ky, and Dao Van Than, and gathering rich collections for touristic and documentary publications.

These beautiful photos are part of his work that Léon Busy took portraits of Vietnamese women in 1915.






May 1, 2024

Hanna R. Hall, Kirsten Dunst, A.J. Cook, Leslie Hayman and Chelse Swain in Promo Shots for “The Virgin Suicides” (1999)

The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American psychological romantic drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola in her feature directorial debut, and co-produced by her father, Francis Ford Coppola. The film is based on the 1993 debut novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. The film follows the lives of five adolescent sisters in an upper-middle-class suburb of Detroit during 1975.

Set in the 1970s, this is the story of the five Lisbon sisters as seen through the eyes of a group of boys who worship them from across the street. As the name suggests, the story is a tragic one as the girls are driven to take their own lives. The boys attempt to explain why they think it happened, even though they admit that now, as grown men, they still don’t understand it.

The Lisbon sisters are: Cecilia, 13 (Hanna R. Hall), Lux, 14 (Kirsten Dunst), Bonnie, 15 (Chelse Swain), Mary, 16 (A.J.Cook) and Therese, 17 (Leslie Hayman). Five beautiful girls who are raised by their parents under extremely strict rules. It soon becomes clear for Mr and Mrs Lisbon that something is very wrong in the Lisbon house when Cecilia attempts to take her life, which is where the film begins. They cannot understand Cecilia’s actions – when the doctor questions her as how she's too young to experience the pain of life, she replies: “Obviously doctor, you've never been a thirteen year-old girl.”

The Virgin Suicides premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and received a limited theatrical release on April 21, 2000, in the United States, later expanding to a wide release in May 2000. The film earned largely positive reviews from critics, with the performances of the cast, Coppola’s direction, visual style, and soundtrack receiving praise. It was also acclaimed for its lyrical representation of adolescent angst, and is recognized as a cult classic. In 2015, the film ranked number 39 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the “50 Best High School Movies”.






Polaroids of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet From the Set of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American science fiction romantic drama film directed by Michel Gondry based on Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay, and a story by Gondry, Kaufman, and Pierre Bismuth. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, with Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles.

The film follows two individuals who undergo a procedure to erase one another from their memories following the dissolution of their romantic relationship. The title of the film is a quotation from the 1717 poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope. It uses elements of psychological drama, science fiction, and a nonlinear narrative to explore the nature of memory and love.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opened in theaters in the United States on March 19, 2004, to widespread acclaim from critics and audiences, who hailed the visual style, editing, writing, score, themes, Gondry’s direction, and the performances of the cast, especially Carrey and Winslet.

Winslet and Carrey received widespread praise for their performances. Winslet’s as Clementine received multiple award nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Premiere magazine placed her performance 81st in their 2008 list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. Claudia Puig in a review for USA Today said of her performance “Winslet is wonderful as a free spirit whose hair color changes along with her moods. She hasn't had such a meaty role in a while, and she plays it just right.”

Ann Hornaday in a review for The Washington Post said “Even when forced to wear costumes and wigs that make her look like Pippi Longstocking after an acid-fueled trip to the thrift market, Winslet maintains a reassuring equilibrium. It takes an actor of her steadiness to play someone this unhinged.”

Carrey’s performance as Joel also received multiple award nominations, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Many reviewers noted his casting against type. Jason Killingsworth in a review for Paste magazine said of his performance “Carrey nails the part, winning audience sympathy from the opening moments of the film.”

Moira MacDonald in a review for The Seattle Times stated “[Jim Carrey is] not bad at all — in fact, it’s the most honest, vulnerable work he’s ever done,” while David Edelstein of Slate said “It’s rarely a compliment when I refer to an actor as “straitjacketed,” but the straitjacketing of Jim Carrey is fiercely poignant. You see all that manic comic energy imprisoned in this ordinary man, with the anarchism peeking out and trying to find a way to express itself.” The supporting cast also received acclaim, with several reviews, such as Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post and Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail singling out Ruffalo's performance for praise.

The film was a box office success, grossing $74 million on a $20 million budget, and was named by the American Film Institute one of the Top 10 Films of 2004. At the 77th Academy Awards, Bismuth, Gondry and Kaufman won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and Winslet received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film became a cult classic in the years since its release and is considered by many critics as one of the best films of the 2000s, and one of the greatest films of all time. Below are some rare behind the scenes Polaroid photos from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.




Morris Frank and Buddy: The Story of the First Seeing Eye Dog

Morris Frank was a blind man who helped start the first school that trained seeing eye dogs. His dog Buddy is considered to be the first seeing eye dog in America.


Born to a prominent Jewish family in Nashville, Tennessee in 1908, Morris’ life story demonstrates the adage “truth is stranger than fiction.”

As a child, he was the primary helper for his mother, Jessie Hirsch Frank, who was blind. Jessie had lost an eye in two separate accidents. Incredibly, Morris would also lose an eye in two separate accidents. When he was six, he lost an eye in a horseback riding incident, and when he was sixteen, he lost the other eye while boxing with a friend.






When Morris was 19, his father read him an article by Dorothy Eustis, an American dog trainer, about blinded World War I veterans in Germany who were starting to work with guide dogs. This was the turning point in Morris’ life.

He immediately wrote a letter to Eustis: “Is what you say really true? If so, I want one of those dogs! And I am not alone. Thousands of blind like me abhor being dependent on others. Help me and I will help them. Train me and I will bring back my dog and show people here how a blind man can be absolutely on his own.”


Eustis responded, asking if Morris would come all the way to her dog-training school in Switzerland to work with a dog. He answered, “Mrs. Eustis, to get my independence back, I’d go to hell.”

Morris reached Switzerland in 1928 and was matched with a German Shepherd he named “Buddy.” They became an efficient team and traveled together to New York, where Morris showed fascinated reporters how he could cross the busiest streets with Buddy’s help. He sent a telegram to Eustis with only one word: “Success.”

Kirsten Dunst Photographed by Marc Baptiste, 1999

Kirsten Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the anthology film New York Stories (1989). Dunst gained widespread recognition for her role as Claudia in the 1994 film Interview with the Vampire, alongside Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. She also starred in films like Little Women (1994), Jumanji (1995), and The Virgin Suicides (1999). Her performances during this decade showcased her talent and versatility as an actress. Here are some stunning photos of Kirsten Dunst taken by Marc Baptiste in 1999:





40 Fabulous Photos of Beryl Wallace During Her Career

Born 1912 as Beatrice Heischuber in Brooklyn, New York, American singer, dancer and actress Beryl Wallace landed a role in the 1928 Earl Carroll Broadway theatre production of Vanities that was billed as having the “most beautiful girls in the world”. She and producer Earl Carroll began a personal relationship that would take them to Hollywood where she would perform in film and at his Earl Carroll Theatre.

Wallace made her film debut in 1934 in an uncredited role in the Paramount Pictures film production of Carroll’s Broadway play Murder at the Vanities. She went on to appear in a number of small roles until 1937, when she co-starred in the Monogram Pictures “B” Western film production of Romance of the Rockies with Tom Keene. This led to another co-starring role in the 1938 film, Air Devils.

In the early 1940s, Wallace continued appearing in bit parts, but also had good secondary roles in Republic Pictures “B” Westerns starring the likes of Roy Rogers and Richard Dix. While acting in twenty-two films over a ten-year period, Wallace’s primary job was as a star entertainer at Earl Carroll’s theatre.

During World War II, Wallace sang weekly on two 15-minute radio shows and on Monday evenings hosted a half-hour entertainment show on NBC radio called Furlough Fun. In addition to helping entertain soldiers at the Masquers Club, on Sunday afternoons she was a volunteer dancer at the Hollywood Canteen.

On June 17, 1948, while en route from Los Angeles to New York City, Beryl Wallace and Earl Carroll died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624 in Aristes, Pennsylvania. She was 35. Take a look at these fabulous photos to see portraits of Beryl Wallace during her career.






Amazing Photos of the 1907 Stoddard-Dayton Model K Runabout

Stoddard-Dayton was arguably one of the great American cars of its era. Beginning in 1904, the first models were designed by Englishman J.S. Edwards, using 26-hp, four-cylinder Rutenber engines.

In 1907, both four- and six-cylinder engines were employed as models grew in size, stature, and price. The Model K, like this example, was Stoddard-Dayton’s most sporting model. Such a car finished the 1907 Glidden Tour with a perfect score.

This Model K is one of three known to survive today.









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