Tuesday, 23 November 2010

Shorpy colourised and deer

The rabbit's fondness for the old photos blog Shorpy (link to left) is well-known to regular readers. Shorpy has a section of colourised (or colorized as they would have it being Americans - I must come and have a talk to you people about spelling - too many 'z's and too few 'u's), Above is a colourised photo of Shorpy Hegginbotham, the Alabama boy miner who gave his name to the blog. The image dates from 1910 by the way.

And who should we find but a young version of our old friend Evelyn Nesbit?

This image dates from 1936 and is titled Bank That Failed - Kansas. It sort of has contemporary resonance but banks aren't allowed to fail any more. Something to do with being too big...

The rabbit was fascinated by old aeroplanes as a boy. This image dates from 1918 and there is plainly a story behind it. the woman is dressed in a leather coat suggesting that perhaps she was one of what must have been the first female pilots.

This image is a strange one. It is simply known as Girl with Dog and has no name or date but may be Spanish. Is the dog real or stuffed?


Above is from 1938 and Omaha, Nebraska and is titled 'liquor store signs'.



Southern chain gang 1905. Wouldn't want to have been them. But in tribute to all those brutalised lives here is Bruce from that amazing 1985 Paris concert and Working on the Highway.











Oh and the Daily Torygraph has an online animal pictures of the week feature. Take a look. There are 30 of them. I like the deer ones and the underlying story but they are all seriously good. Enjoy!

11 comments:

That Hank said...

Colorized picture are okay, but I'm sort of fascinated by early photos that were shot in color. I have several on my blog, but my favorite sets are:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/ (Russia, early 1900s)
http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/ (French)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157603671370361/
(30s and 40s in color)

That Hank said...

Oh, and good song.

white rabbit said...

Hank - It is a good song indeed. I agree with you that colourising is okay but it always lacks real authenticity. Early colour photos can look very odd - but are more interesting, I agree.

The Dental Maven said...

Love the pics Rabbit...and love me some Bruce too!

sybil law said...

I love the little girl picture, and the chain gang. Since you turned me into a Shorpy fan, I've yet to look at the colourised (happy?!) photos. Going to change that right now. Well, when I've finished commenting.
Oh - and an English linguist once told me that people from my part of Ohio (Cincinnati) speak the most correct English, in fact. (I was living in Boston at the time and she guessed where I was from!)
So there. :P

Catch Her in the Wry said...

Trusting prisoners with axes - interesting paradox.

I'm also not a fan of colourising, but there is a woman in my area who hand-colourises photos and they are rather interesting.

tony said...

Yes, Old Photographs Evoke.
I cant help refect the possible irony that ,in this digital age , we will pass on so Many photographs that their evokability will be dilluted for future generations?

Petit fleur said...

Just saying hi. Girl with Dog is creepy.

Love Bruce.
xo

white rabbit said...

Maven - Thankies O dentally unchallenged one!

Sybil - Your diction and grammar is no doubt at least as good as your spelling! :)

Catchy - I expect they were overseen by a guy with a horse, a gun and a low opinion of the value of their lives. Plus they were in chains. So probs pretty safe on the axe front...

Tony - Too early to tell ;)

Little Flower - It is indeed. The dog has to be stuffed...

JoJo said...

Love those old photos. I think the dog is ceramic or porcelain.

Candace Grant said...

Thanks ffor writing this