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Photography

Fascinating Early-20th-Century Color Photos of Famous People

By Emily Temple on

There are some historical figures who we always think of in black and white. After all, the world trucked on in monochrome, Pleasantville-style, until the middle of the 20th century, right? Well, not exactly. In fact, color photography dates back to the mid-1800s — the first three-color process photo was taken in 1855, but it wasn’t until 1907 that the first commercially viable method of color photography, Lumière Autochrome, was invented — and perhaps unsurprisingly, photographers jumped to take snapshots of their famous friends. Below, some notable characters, from Mark Twain to Auguste Rodin, whom we usually see in black and white, showing their true colors. … Read More

Books

25 Vintage Photos of Librarians Being Awesome

By Emily Temple on

Librarians, in case you hadn’t heard, are essential members of society — likely to expand minds wherever they go — and, as such, are fully worthy of hero worship (whether they’re among the coolest librarians alive or just pretty cool). That’s at least part of the impetus behind My Daguerreotype Librarian, ”[a] tumblr dedicated to literally or figuratively hunky and babely librarians from the past.” Inspired by the website, here’s a little extra literary goodness: 25 awesome vintage photos of librarians from ages past. … Read More

Photography

Amusing Vintage Photos from New Year’s Eves Past

By Emily Temple on

It’s New Year’s Eve, folks! Whether you like to celebrate in the craziness that is Times Square, at a small gathering with friends, or with a loved one, a bottle of champagne and an old movie, we’re here to supply you with a little bit of party time… Read More

Pop Culture

20 Incredibly Bizarre Vintage Halloween Costumes

By Emily Temple on

What is it about vintage costumes that makes them so much more bizarre — and so much scarier — than their modern equivalents? Were people really that much stranger back then, or do they only look absurd in hindsight? Fed up with the animal-ears-and-a-bra option that, no matter how many times everyone rolls their eyes over it, seems to be the prevailing trend year after year, we decided to look for a little inspiration in vintage photography. We scoured the web for the wildest, weirdest costumes of yesteryear, and came up with everything from toadstools to telephones — and one guy in “fancy dress as a side of bacon.” After the jump, get inspired — or totally freaked out — by our collection of creepy, funny, or just plain bizarre costumes worn by revelers in decades past. We hope you can sleep… Read More

Books

Vintage Photographs From Inside 10 Famous Libraries

By Emily Temple on

It’s no secret that we’re fans of beautiful libraries here, but it’s not only gorgeous architecture and shiny mahogany work benches that excite us. Inspired by a wonderful collection of vintage photographs of the New York Public Library’s stacks that we spotted over at Retronaut, we decided to put together a mini collection of vintage photographs from inside famous libraries both at home and abroad. Often more subdued than modern libraries, they seem to hum with wisdom through that black and white film — and we bet the old-book smell is just to die for. Page through to check them out, and if you feel inspired to go visit a real life library after you do, well that’s just icing on the cake. … Read More

Photography

Glowing, Mesmerizing Vintage Photos

By Alison Nastasi on

Daré alla Lucé is a mesmerizing series from Amy Friend, which we first fell in love with on My Modern Met. The artist transforms vintage photographs by pricking them with tiny holes, allowing the surrounding light to shine through and make them glow. She describes it as giving the photographs “back to the light,” and the title of her beautiful series completes the cycle. (It’s an Italian phrase that describes the moment of birth.) To Friend, the source of light is “the unknown,” which fits the work’s sometimes haunting imagery. There are plenty of playful pictures in the series, however, which is composed of mainly found photographs. Friend told MMM that she’s had a fondness for vintage photos since her grandmother shared an old album with her. She sometimes gets attached to the glowing strangers in her works, too — and how could she not? They’re completely enchanting. See more of Friend’s photographs past the break. … Read More

Photography

Wonderful Vintage Photos of Skateboarders in the 1960s

By Emily Temple on

Though skateboarding emerged in America in the late ’40s or early ’50s (dreamt up by bored California surfers on flat-water days), the sport didn’t really take hold until the mid-1960s, when young boys and girls everywhere began zooming around on early models. Photojournalist Bill Eppridge, whose photography we recently spotted over at My Modern Met, documented the boom in New York City, where kids swarmed Central Park and car-lines streets, trying out their new toys, often arm-in-arm. Check out Eppridge’s series Skateboarding in New York City after the jump, and see if it doesn’t make you want to go out and play with your friends. … Read More

Photography

Awesome Vintage Photographs of Tattooed Women

By Emily Temple on

We tend to think as tattoos as a relatively new cultural phenomenon — but actually, that’s not at all true. In fact, scientists have discovered at least one generously tattooed iceman, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BC. So we’d say the practice has been around for quite a while. But that doesn’t make it any less fun to look at these vintage photographs of tattooed ladies, proudly showing off their ink in an age when — if not exactly new — the practice was definitely not as accepted as it is today. Inspired by this post over at Juztapoz, click through to check out our gallery of a few of the tattooed ladies who paved the way for the rest of us. … Read More

Photography

Gorgeous Black and White Photos of NYC in the ’30s

By Caroline Stanley on

That Berenice Abbott really had an incredible eye for the way light and shadow can transform a building. A photographer working in the early 20th century, Abbott got her start as a darkroom assistant at her pal Man Ray’s portrait studio in Montparnasse, and would later make a name for herself with her stunning images of New York City’s architecture — in many cases capturing shots of older buildings that would later be destroyed. It was this passion that would ultimately lead to Changing New York, her government-funded documentary project which we spotted thanks to a post on Retronaut. Venture back in time with some of our favorite shots from the series. … Read More

Photography

Beautiful Black and White Photos of New York in the 1960s

By Nicole Rallis on

If you’re anything like us, then you’ve imagined what it would be like to inhabit New York in the 1960s, amid the thriving Greenwich Village music and art scene, the fantastic fashion, and the era’s inspiring political movements. Lucky for us, a gorgeous collection of photos by James Jowers have surfaced to further indulge our nostalgia for a decade we never knew. The black-and-white series cuts across several neighborhoods, highlighting New Yorkers of all sorts — fancily dressed girls moping around, casual city dwellers dancing through the crowded streets, players engaged in what looks to be an epic game of chess, and couples kissing on benches. Travel back in time with the lovely images after the jump. … Read More