Bubble on the Seine: Amazing Photographs of Models Floating Over Paris in the 1960s

This iconic Bubble series was created by fashion photographer Melvin Sokolsky for the Harper’s Bazaar 1963 Spring Collection.

Haunted by a particular image from Hieronymous Bosch's ‘The Garden of Delights,’ Sokolsky experienced a re-occurring dream in which he saw himself floating inside a bubble across exotic landscapes. Inspired, he quickly used the idea for the series. The Bubble was crafted to emulate a Faberge Egg, for which Sokolsky had great admiration for its design and workmanship.

Complicated and unrealistic at first, he was able to realize his dream. Sokolsky commented: "With the awareness that I was prone to live in my own head much of the time, and inclined to severe self-criticism, I began to have doubts whether I could create images on film that reflected the images in my mind's eye."

The Bubble was produced in ten days of Plexiglass and aircraft aluminum for the hinged rings. After a successful test run, Sokolsky was off to Paris to shoot the Spring Collections for Harper's Bazaar.

The challenge was to position a telescopic crane at each location from which the Bubble would be suspended. Using his favorite model at the time, Simone d'Aillencourt, she would get into the Bubble that was suspended a few feet off the ground, (hinged at the top like a Faberge Egg) so that it could easily swing open for entry. After being locked in safely and able to breathe due to the space between the hemispheres; the Bubble was raised into the final position. Sokolsky describes one particular event, "There were times when this choreographed dance turned into a Laurel and Hardy comedy. The morning we shot on the Seine, the Bubble was lowered overzealously into the water, flooding it up to Simone's ankles, and in turn ruining an important pair of designer shoes."

Turning out to be an amazing adventure for him, Sokolsky was praised and congratulated for his unconventional yet triumphant work. He had ignited the world of fashion photography with his innovative style.

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1970 Lambretta Calendar

Raffaella Carrà is an Italian singer, dancer and actress. She is very a popular figure in Italy, Spain, Malta, Albania, Greece and Latin America and Russia.

She is well-known because of her many popular TV shows in the national italian television (RAI, Radiotelevisione Italiana). Her most successful songs include “Far l’amore“, which has been remixed by Bob Sinclair and translated to many languages, and “Tuca tuca“.

Outrageous Fashion Ads From the 1970s

Because there’s fashion, and then there’s fashion. The baddest, most stylish soul brother this side of Dolemite’s afro is about to roundhouse kick his way onto your boob-tube.

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Creepy Cat Portraits From the Early 1900s

During the 1870s, the Brighton photographer Harry Pointer (1822-1889) became well known for a series of carte-de-visite photographs which featured his pet cats. Pointer began by taking conventional photographs of cats resting, drinking milk or sleeping in a basket, but from around 1870 he specialized in photographing cats in a variety of poses, placing his cats in settings that would create a humorous or appealing picture. Pointer often arranged his cats in unusual poses that mimicked human activities - a cat riding a tricycle, cats roller-skating and even a cat taking a photograph with a camera.

Harry Pointer soon realized that even a relatively straight-forward cat photograph could be turned into an amusing or appealing image by adding a written caption. Pointer increased the commercial potential of his cat pictures by adding a written greeting such as "A Happy New Year" or "Very many happy returns of the day". Purchasers sent the small cartes-de-visite as tiny greetings cards, thereby publicizing Pointer's distinctive cat photographs. By 1872, Harry Pointer had created over one hundred different captioned images of cats. Harry Pointer's series of cat photographs were collectively known as "The Brighton Cats". The Photographic News reported that, by 1884, Pointer had published about two hundred pictures in "The Brighton Cats" series. And here are just a few:

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Photos of Red Army in the Autumn of 1943

These are the photos from the big military Red Army and historical reconstruction devoted to the 69th anniversary of Kiev liberation from the fascist conquerers. 800 people from more than ten countries took part in the event. They all travelled back to early November, 1943.

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The First Photograph Ever Taken in Finland

This may look like something captured with Instagram on the newest smartphone, but it’s something a bit different indeed. It is the first photograph taken in Finland, ever. The photo dates back to the year 1842.

The photograph is a daguerreotype, one of the earliest photography techniques. It was taken in Turku, which ironically also is Finland’s oldest city, though obviously not the only city at the time. The photographer was Henrik Cajander, a doctor by trade who lived on the very street the photo was taken.

The building in the picture was called the Nobel house, and it was located on the corner of Uudenmaankatu 8 (map). The beautiful building had just been finished when the photo was taken. It was later, after several stages of re-modelling and renovations, demolished by the City of Turku in 1961.

As you can see the photo isn’t exactly perfect, technically or aesthetically speaking, but it is a big part of the history in Finnish photography. Some might call the crooked composition an amateur mistake, but the photographer was, in the realest sense, an amateur at what he was doing.

As of right now, the city of Turku publicly displays a “life size enlargement” of the photograph above. It is located at the very spot where the building used to be.

(via The Crop Factor)

Amazing Vintage Photos of the Construction of the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the Largest Flying Boat Ever Built

The Hughes H-4 Hercules is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II, it was not completed in time to be used in the war. The aircraft made only one brief flight on November 2, 1947, and the project never advanced beyond the single example produced.

Built from wood because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminium and concerns about weight, it was nicknamed by critics the “Spruce Goose”, although it was made almost entirely of birch. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history. It remains in good condition and is on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, United States.

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