If I'm counting correctly these photographs still retain copyright to the end of the year (in Sweden), as Albert Kahn died in 1940. Copyright in Sweden is generally uphold up until 70 years after authors death.
If you start to read Latin and Ancient Greek, you'll get a sense that human beings have had most of the same mundane concerns for the past thousands of years. Some of the love poetry of Catullus, for example, sounds like it could have been written by a precocious tween.
What about those of us who speak undead languages? 1000 year old Arabic reads like any other modern formal essay. It's really hard to let go of the past when it's so vividly present. We hold grudges against nations and tribes that no longer exist.
The first photo, of The Plaza Hotel in NYC is really stark compared to how it looks now. It's not even close to being the tallest building in that area now, but then it looks like it was two or three times as tall almost as anything else.
It is amazing how different everyone looks from one another. It can be pretty tough to pick where someone is from these days. Everyone's dress seems so distinctive.
Most of us in our best clothes would not compare favourably to the richness on display by these average people in their best dress.
However, I wonder how much variety of style was worn in previous generations. Certainly within the span of living memory the current period is the most vividly variegated explosion of unrestrained style, but that is only compared to the monotone conformism of post-war industrialism.
Were there perhaps places and times before us with a similar or higher level of embracing stylistic inventiveness?
"Charles Weever Cushman, amateur photographer and Indiana University alumnus, bequeathed approximately 14,500 Kodachrome color slides to his alma mater. The photographs in this collection bridge a thirty-two year span from 1938 to 1969, during which time he extensively documented the United States as well as other countries."
All the pictures from the Musée Albert Kahn are actually autochromes. I found the way of making those technically very interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autochrome
Its sounds odd but I sometimes find it a little upsetting looking at old photos for what might be an unusual reason. I want to warn the people in them about stuff. For example when I got to the photo taken in Cambodia all I could think was "the poor bastards alive then had no idea the nightmare that was waiting for them and their children" meaning what happened under Khmer Rouge.
The annoying one way nature of time bothers me. lol. think I might be going crazy.
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[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 75.3 ms ] threadEdit: and most if not all are in public domain. Sample: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Mikhailovich_Prokud...
You can find all reconstructed images here: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/
What I'm wondering is what was Obama doing in Spain as a young boy? http://citynoise.org/upload/42155.jpg
PS: And I was happy to see a picture of my country (Sri Lanka) there :).
However, I wonder how much variety of style was worn in previous generations. Certainly within the span of living memory the current period is the most vividly variegated explosion of unrestrained style, but that is only compared to the monotone conformism of post-war industrialism.
Were there perhaps places and times before us with a similar or higher level of embracing stylistic inventiveness?
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/browse/yearBrowse.js...
"Charles Weever Cushman, amateur photographer and Indiana University alumnus, bequeathed approximately 14,500 Kodachrome color slides to his alma mater. The photographs in this collection bridge a thirty-two year span from 1938 to 1969, during which time he extensively documented the United States as well as other countries."
One of my favorites:
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/cushman/full/P02...
The collection can be a bit overwhelming, but for a good overview, look here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=142692
The annoying one way nature of time bothers me. lol. think I might be going crazy.