Rare and Fascinating Photographs Capture Everyday Street Scenes of 19th-Century Newcastle

When Aaron Guy peered into a forgotten box in an ancient Newcastle building, he could not have guessed the treasures contained inside. The curious photo archivist had stumbled upon a remarkable set of original early glass negatives, detailing everyday street scenes of 19th-century Newcastle.

Guy, who works at the city's Mining Institute, was helping to shift old furniture for the Society of Antiquaries when his attention was diverted to the box.

"The society were moving to a smaller building and were passing some of their belongings to other organisations," he told The Guardian. "I was just being nosy really, peering into boxes, when I happened to spot that one contained some really old glass negatives. I thought they seemed interesting so we asked for permission to bring the plate boxes back to our office to have a proper look."

The work seems to date back at least to 1880 and the cohesion of the images suggests at least a third of them may have been created by a single photographer. The most arresting images are from the Newcastle streets, but the collection also contains work from other parts of the north-east, most recognisably Tynemouth and Lindisfarne.

"We know very little about where these negatives have come from," Guy said. "They were never catalogued and the society doesn't recall how or when it came by them. We aren't even completely sure whether they are one photographer's archive, or if they were produced by several individuals. Photography would have been a very expensive hobby at that time, but this person was shooting in a very contemporary way.

"Despite the cumbersome equipment he would have been using – a large plate camera, probably on a tripod – I would describe this as observational documentary, almost photojournalistic in style.

"The work doesn't look staged, but if it was then the photographer was doing things very differently from his contemporaries. This work feels less distant and more engaged than other series I have seen.

"It may have been someone with means, or a commercial photographer with quite a distinctive viewpoint, who decided that Joe Bloggs on the street was more interesting to photograph in his spare time than the high society of Newcastle. He was really quite ahead of his time in that respect."

Guy and his colleagues are still scanning the work and researching locations and possible identities of the photographer. They are also keen to find another 15 boxes of plates which were sent by the Society of Antiquaries to other places.

"I was really quite lucky to find this box," he said. "I don't know if someone forgot it or planned to pick it up later. The aim now is to date and catalogue the work, and then to put it out to other organisations in the city and hopefully get it seen, because it really belongs to the people of Newcastle."

A little girl selling cordial with meat sellers at either Paddy's Market or Bigg Market, Newcastle.

A young peanut seller captured at work.

Children gathered outside of the station hotel, Neville street watching a performance.

A man makes time for a nap in what was then the centre of Newcastle.

Women chat outside caravans stationed at the city's Town Moor.

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Stunning Fashion Photoshoots for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue in the 1950s and 1960s

Tom Palumbo (1921–2008) was an American photographer and theatre director. He was a staff photographer of Vogue from 1959 until 1962 and at Harper's Bazaar from 1953 until 1959, where he worked with the art directors Alex Liberman and Alexey Brodovitch. He was a vice-president of creative productions at Ted Bates, where he oversaw all TV commercials. Here's a collection of primarily images from his shots for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue in the 1950s and 1960s.

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First Lady Lady Bird Johnson Planting a Tree During the Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, 1965

First Lady Lady Bird Johnson planting a tree during the Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, Tidal Basin, Washington, DC, 04/06/1965. (via)

18 Photographs Capture Street Scenes of New York City in The Early 1980s

In many ways New York City is a very different place to how it was in the 1970s and early 1980s. Paul Wright first visited Manhattan in 1982 when parts of the city looked semi-derelict. "It was edgy and sometimes dangerous, but the city also had a character that has been buried by property developers and chain stores." - Paul says.

Here, a collection of 18 interesting photographs of New York City in 1982 and 1983 taken by Paul Wright.

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Vintage Portraits of Child Labor in the United States in the Early 20th Century

The 1900 U.S. census (a count of the nation's population and related statistics taken every ten years) showed that 1.75 million children (about 18.2 percent) aged ten to fifteen years old were working. Not included in the census were children younger than ten who held jobs in mills, in factories, and on the streets. Had this group been included, the total number of child laborers would have exceeded two million (about 21 percent).

Children held many types of jobs. Kids as young as five often worked as newsies (children who sold newspapers on the streets), toiling into the midnight hours. They often got sick because of the long hours and bad weather, and many died due to lack of nutrition and medicine.

Other young children worked in factories, running large machines. They worked twelve- to fourteen-hour shifts, eating only during break time. Children's jobs also included rolling cigars, weaving baskets, picking fruit, working with oysters and shrimp, and setting bowling pins. Many of these jobs required children to work many hours even before sunrise.

Many children also worked informally in fabric mills, tagging along with an older sibling. The average pay for children in fabric mills was 48 cents for a twelve-hour day. Children were paid less than adults, who were also underpaid during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At that time, many believed that children should work because it helped them develop a strong work ethic. Many employers took advantage of children; parents found it difficult to keep their kids away from hard labor because the additional income was crucial to the family's survival.

Photograph shows half-length portrait of two girls wearing banners with slogan "ABOLISH CH[ILD] SLAVERY!!" in English and Yiddish ("(ני)דער מיט (קינד)ער שקלאפער(ײ)", "Nider mit Kinder Schklawerii"), one carrying American flag; spectators stand nearby. Probably taken during May 1, 1909 labor parade in New York City.

Young Spanish-American boy shortly after the last exam at school. He will probably not come to school tomorrow since children are not required to on the last few days in order to work. on April 10-16, 1941.

African American boy selling The Washington Daily News - sign on his hat reads, "Have you read The News? One cent" - headline reads "Millionaire tax rends G.O.P.", 1921.

Boy at warping machine in Newton Cotton Mill. Been there 2 years. Newton, N.C., 1908.

Child Labor in the Textile Mills. The Lawrence textile strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World.

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Street Scenes of San Francisco in 1982

The 1980s was easily one of the most tumultuous decades San Francisco has seen. Check out these interesting photographs of San Francisco below which were taken by Paul Wright in 1982.

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Happy April Fools' Day!

Woman milking a cow with an elephants’ head. This photo was featured as an April Fools’ day joke in the magazine Het Leven, back in 1932.