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January 31, 2012

20 Fascinating Photographs Show the Gritty Reality of 1980s New York City

Fascinating photographs show the gritty reality of 1980s New York City, a time when the city was blighted by criminality and the newly-completed Twin Towers pointed towards a brighter future.

The images were captured by photographer Steven Siegel during the 1980s - a time where Times Square was a haven of pornography and prostitution and much of the riverside was derelict and crumbling.






January 30, 2012

January 27, 2012

37 Fascinating Photographs Taken With Kodak’s First Commercial Camera From the 1890s

These days, cameras range from the incredibly user-friendly (point and shoots, smartphone cameras) to the complex and multi-featured (high-end DSLRs and the like). But one thing’s for sure: we wouldn’t have any of them if it weren’t for the Kodak.

Before Kodak came along, photography just wasn’t feasible for the average person, given how costly it was and how bulky the cameras could be. With the creation of the Kodak No. 1, with its pre-loaded film and relatively attractive price, regular folks could take their own photographs for the first time.

From the National Media Museum:
The Kodak camera was the invention of an American, George Eastman (1854-1932). It was a simple, leather-covered wooden box – small and light enough to be held in the hands. Taking a photograph with the Kodak was very easy, requiring only three simple actions; turning the key (to wind on the film); pulling the string (to set the shutter); and pressing the button (to take the photograph). There wasn’t even a viewfinder – the camera was simply pointed in the direction of the subject to be photographed. The Kodak produced circular snapshots, two and a half inches in diameter.
Here are 37 fascinating photos, dating from around the 1890s, taken with Kodak No. 1s. Are these amazing or what?






Extraordinary Vintage Photographs of the Wild West in the Late 19th Century

The grainy photographs, taken in the late 19th century in and around the notorious gold mining town of Deadwood, provide a unique, sepia-toned glimpse of the Wild West. The images were published in American papers this week after being released by the U.S. Library of Congress.

Many of the pictures, taken by the pioneering photographer John C.H. Grabill, show how the reality was rather different to the traditions instilled by decades of Hollywood Westerns.

Between 1887 and 1892, Grabill sent 188 photographs — taken using an early technique that used albumen, or egg white, to bind together the chemicals — to the Library of Congress for copyright protection.

Deadwood in South Dakota was founded shortly after the discovery of gold in the neighbouring Black Hills in 1876.

As the railroads went further west, so the settlers followed. Grabill's image Horse Shoe Curve in the shadow of the Buckhorn Mountains.

Living side-by-side: A school for Indians at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. There is a small Oglala tipi camp in front the large government school buildings.

Happy band: Mining engineers with their wives and a couple of tame deer get together for an impromptu campside musical concert.

Army exercise: Soldiers from Company C of the 3rd U.S. Infantry carry their rifles as they spread out near Fort Meade.

Progress: The people of Deadwood celebrate the completion of a stretch of railroad in 1888 with a parade along the town's Main Street.

January 26, 2012

Most Ancient Historical Photographs

For times immemorial, people have tried to reproduce their surroundings into pictures of their own. They have used techniques of paintings, carving and sculpturing and for years images have been projected onto surfaces. Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. Long before the first photographs were made, Chinese and Greek philosophers described a pinole camera. But it was until Ibn – al – Haytham (965–1040) a Muslim scientist made significant contributions to the principles of optics and invented the camera obscura which is a prototype of today’s modern camera. While this early prototype may have had modest usage in its time, it was an important step in the evolution of the invention.

Earliest Known Photograph (1825). Earliest known, surviving heliographic engraving in existence, made by Nicéphore Niépce in 1825 by the heliography process. His illustration is of an etching printed from a metal plate that was etched following alteration of the ground by sunlight; the image is of a 17th Century Flemish engraving showing a man leading a horse.

The First Photograph Ever Taken “View from the Window at Le Gras” (Circa, 1826). The first permanent photograph (later accidentally destroyed) was an image produced in 1822 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. His photographs were produced on a polished pewter plate covered with a petroleum derivative called bitumen of Judea. View from the Window at Le Gras (La cour du domaine du Gras) was the first successful permanent photograph, created by Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 at Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. Niépce captured the photo with a camera obscura focused onto a sheet of 20 × 25 cm oil-treated bitumen. As a result of the 8-hour exposure, sunlight illuminates the buildings on both sides.

The First Photograph of a Human ”Boulevard Du Temple” (Paris, 1838). Boulevard du Temple, taken by Louis Daguerre in late 1838, was the first-ever photograph of a person. It is an image of a busy street, but because exposure time was over ten minutes, the city traffic was moving too much to appear. The exception is a man in the bottom left corner, who stood still getting his boots polished long enough to show up in the picture.

The First Light Picture and Human Potrait Ever Taken ([Oct,Nov 1839). Robert Cornelius, self-portrait, Oct. or Nov. 1839, approximate quarter plate daguerreotype which is a procedure invented in 1839 using silver on a copper plate. The back reads, “The first light picture ever taken.” This self-portrait is the first photographic portrait image of a human ever produced.

Roger Fenton’s Photographic Van (1855). Roger Fenton (20 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a pioneering British photographer, one of the first war photographers. In 1855 Fenton went to the Crimean War on assignment for the publisher Thomas Agnew to photograph the troops, with a photographic assistant Marcus Sparling and a servant and a large van of equipment. Despite high temperatures, breaking several ribs, and suffering from cholera, he managed to make over 350 usable large format negatives. An exhibition of 312 prints was soon on show in London.

January 25, 2012

Rare Vintage Snapshots Captured Punk Rock Scenes in Santa Cruz and San Francisco in 1978-79

Punk rock (or simply "punk") is a rock music genre that developed in the early to mid-1970s in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in 1960s garage rock and other forms of what is now known as "proto-punk" music, punk rock bands rejected perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock.

Punk bands typically use short or fast-paced songs, with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through informal channels.

These photographs were taken in Santa Cruz and San Francisco in 1978-79.






January 24, 2012

Man Ray’s Portraits of Famous Friends

Man Ray (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976), born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal.


Best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, Man Ray produced major works in a variety of media and considered himself a painter above all. He was also a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. He is noted for his photograms, which he renamed “rayographs” after himself.

While appreciation for Man Ray’s work beyond his fashion and portrait photography was slow in coming during his lifetime, especially in his native United States, his reputation has grown steadily in the decades since.

Antonin Artaud, Paris, 1926

Genica Athanasiou aka Eugénie Tanase, Paris, 1921

Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski de Rola), Paris, 1930

Constantin Brancusi, Paris, circa 1930

André Breton, Paris, circa 1928

January 22, 2012

Chicago Street Gangs Used To Have Business Cards in the 1970s and 1980s

Every city has its own gang history, part of Chicago’s are gang business cards, most prominent in the 1970s and early 1980s, back in the day when a gang was more of a neighborhood crew then what it is today.


Fists, bats, and bottles days, before guns became the norm in the gang. Most of the gangs were just about the neighborhood and hanging out together. Stock art from the printer as well as some hand drawn illustrations were the back bone of many of the cards. Some cards are pretty humorous, with some off the wall illustrations, logos, sayings, and rhymes. They don’t make them like they used to...






January 20, 2012

Before She Was Marilyn: 15 Beautiful Color Photographs of Norma Jeane in the 1940s

With her platinum blonde hair and signature red lipstick, Marilyn Monroe is easily one of the most iconic celebrities of all time, however, only a few know what the actress looked like before she was famous. Here are some of beautiful photos of Marilyn Monroe back when she was Norma Jeane.









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