vintage everyday

Early Photographs by Kodak

2012-01-27T05:39:00.000-08:00

In 1888, George Eastman invented the Kodak camera, which consisted of a simple wooden box with no adjustments, which took photographs of circular 6.35 cm diameter without cropping the image circle for a square or rectangle like most other cameras.

Trampolining, 1960

2012-01-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

1960's Polaroid Pictures of Signs in Washington

2012-01-27T00:39:00.000-08:00

The Wild West in 19th Century Photographs

2012-01-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

The grainy photographs, taken in the late 19th century in and around the notorious gold mining town of Deadwood, provide a unique, sepia-toned glimpse of the Wild West. The images were published in American papers this week after being released by the U.S. Library of Congress.

Many of the pictures, taken by the pioneering photographer John C.H. Grabill, show how the reality was rather different to the traditions instilled by decades of Hollywood Westerns.

Between 1887 and 1892, Grabill sent 188 photographs — taken using an early technique that used albumen, or egg white, to bind together the chemicals — to the Library of Congress for copyright protection.

Deadwood in South Dakota was founded shortly after the discovery of gold in the neighbouring Black Hills in 1876.

As the railroads went further west, so the settlers followed. Grabill's image Horse Shoe Curve in the shadow of the Buckhorn Mountains.

Living side-by-side: A school for Indians at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. There is a small Oglala tipi camp in front the large government school buildings.

Happy band: Mining engineers with their wives and a couple of tame deer get together for an impromptu campside musical concert.

Army exercise: Soldiers from Company C of the 3rd U.S. Infantry carry their rifles as they spread out near Fort Meade.

Progress: The people of Deadwood celebrate the completion of a stretch of railroad in 1888 with a parade along the town's Main Street.

Most Ancient Historical Photographs

2012-01-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

For times immemorial, people have tried to reproduce their surroundings into pictures of their own. They have used techniques of paintings, carving and sculpturing and for years images have been projected onto surfaces. Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. Long before the first photographs were made, Chinese and Greek philosophers described a pinole camera. But it was until Ibn – al – Haytham (965 – 1040) a Muslim scientist made significant contributions to the principles of optics and invented the camera obscura which is a prototype of today’s modern camera. While this early prototype may have had modest usage in its time, it was an important step in the evolution of the invention.

Earliest Known Photograph (1825). Earliest known, surviving heliographic engraving in existence, made by Nicéphore Niépce in 1825 by the heliography process. His illustration is of an etching printed from a metal plate that was etched following alteration of the ground by sunlight; the image is of a 17th Century Flemish engraving showing a man leading a horse.

The First Photograph Ever Taken “View from the Window at Le Gras” (Circa, 1826). The first permanent photograph (later accidentally destroyed) was an image produced in 1822 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. His photographs were produced on a polished pewter plate covered with a petroleum derivative called bitumen of Judea. View from the Window at Le Gras (La cour du domaine du Gras) was the first successful permanent photograph, created by Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 at Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. Niépce captured the photo with a camera obscura focused onto a sheet of 20 × 25 cm oil-treated bitumen. As a result of the 8-hour exposure, sunlight illuminates the buildings on both sides.

The First Photograph of a Human ”Boulevard Du Temple” (Paris, 1838). Boulevard du Temple, taken by Louis Daguerre in late 1838, was the first-ever photograph of a person. It is an image of a busy street, but because exposure time was over ten minutes, the city traffic was moving too much to appear. The exception is a man in the bottom left corner, who stood still getting his boots polished long enough to show up in the picture.

The First Light Picture and Human Potrait Ever Taken ([Oct,Nov 1839). Robert Cornelius, self-portrait, Oct. or Nov. 1839, approximate quarter plate daguerreotype which is a procedure invented in 1839 using silver on a copper plate. The back reads, “The first light picture ever taken.” This self-portrait is the first photographic portrait image of a human ever produced.

Roger Fenton’s Photographic Van (1855). Roger Fenton (20 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a pioneering British photographer, one of the first war photographers. In 1855 Fenton went to the Crimean War on assignment for the publisher Thomas Agnew to photograph the troops, with a photographic assistant Marcus Sparling and a servant and a large van of equipment. Despite high temperatures, breaking several ribs, and suffering from cholera, he managed to make over 350 usable large format negatives. An exhibition of 312 prints was soon on show in London.

80-Carat Diamond

2012-01-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

In 1905, the largest diamond (ever), a 3,106 carat diamond was found at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa.

See more some very large and beautiful diamonds here.

Cigarette Ads in 1950's

2012-01-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

Vintage Sport Equipment

2012-01-25T10:26:00.001-08:00

Vaudeville Ventriloquist Dummy Portraits

2012-01-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

A Look at Photos From Kodak’s Glory Days

2012-01-25T00:44:00.000-08:00

n 1900, Eastman Kodak introduced the Brownie, the first mass-market camera that allowed anyone to take a picture. Since then, the company has been on the cutting edge of photography. It supplied the film used on the Apollo 11 missions and was even the first to put together a working digital camera. Ultimately, Kodak couldn’t keep up in the digital marketplace. In 2009, the company stopped selling its Kodachrome color film and, by 2010, it had fallen to seventh place in terms of digital cameras sold. Now, the 130-year-old company is filing for bankruptcy and may shutter its doors for good. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from the storied company’s past.

Brownie

In 1893, Kodak created "Kodak Girls." These pretty young women were featured in their advertisements.

An 1888 ad suggests a Kodak camera as a wedding present.

A Kodak camera at the White House Easter Egg Roll in 1889.

An Eastman Kodak Company building, photographed in 1890, in what remains the company town, Rochester, N.Y.

Punk Rock in Santa Cruz and San Francisco, 1978-79

2012-01-25T00:26:00.000-08:00

Photos taken in Santa Cruz and San Francisco in 1978-79

Awesome Vintage Circus Photographs

2012-01-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

Circus Clown

Circus Girl in 1960s

A Circus Parade in New York in the early 1900's. Back in the day, when the circus came to town, they would hold a grand parade. The parade was free, and you could see many amazing things, drawing you in to wanting to see the main show.

A couple of boys sneaking into a circuit by climbing under the tent, taken in 1936 near Roswell, New Mexico.

A lady Lion Tamer in 1899

America from 1970s by Leonard Freed

2012-01-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

Leonard Freed (October 23, 1929, Brooklyn, New York – November 29, 2006, Garrison, New York) was a documentary photojournalist and longtime Magnum member. He was born to Jewish, working-class parents of Eastern European descent.

Man Ray’s Portraits of Famous Friends

2012-01-24T02:14:00.000-08:00

Man Ray (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976), born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. Best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, Man Ray produced major works in a variety of media and considered himself a painter above all. He was also a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. He is noted for his photograms, which he renamed "rayographs" after himself.

While appreciation for Man Ray's work beyond his fashion and portrait photography was slow in coming during his lifetime, especially in his native United States, his reputation has grown steadily in the decades since. (Wikipedia)

Antonin Artaud, Paris, 1926

Genica Athanasiou aka Eugénie Tanase, Paris, 1921

Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski de Rola), Paris, 1930

Constantin Brancusi, Paris, circa 1930

André Breton, Paris, circa 1928

Famous Photographers With Their Most Iconic Images

2012-01-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

These are famous photographers who are holding their iconic pictures.

Bill Eppridge stands with his photo of Robert F. Kennedy after his assassination on June 5, 1968

Brent Stirton: "This is Virunga, the first National Park in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Silverback Mountain Gorilla, along with 6 females, had been killed by a group trying to intimidate conservation rangers into being less proactive in their efforts against poaching & illegal charcoal making."

Brian Smith: "The magic of photography happens when you don't see what's coming next."

Douglas Kirkland: "This is from my Evening with Marilyn."

Elliot Erwitt: "The picture I am holding was snapped in 1974 just across the street from my apartment in New York's Central Park. It has been 38 years since that event and sadly I have lost track of the participants."

New York, 1901

2012-01-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

Cluster of skyscrapers, New York, 1901. View full size.

Elvis meets Nixon, 1970

2012-01-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

On December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley paid a visit to President Richard M. Nixon at the White House. The meeting was initiated by Presley, who wrote Nixon a six-page letter requesting a visit and suggesting that he be made a “Federal Agent-at-Large” in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

B&W Collection of Celebrities from the Past

2012-01-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

Chicago Gang Calling Cards from the ’70s and ’80s

2012-01-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

These calling cards from a variety of Chicago gangs in the ’70s and ’80s proves that the toughies of the time were fiercely protective of their neighborhoods and always down for hanging out.

More Color Photographs of America in 1939-1943 by Jack Delano

2012-01-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Lafayette Square,1905

2012-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Buffalo, New York, circa 1905. "Lafayette Square." View full size.

Pictures of New York in 1980s

2012-01-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

Marilyn Before She Was Marilyn

2012-01-20T02:41:00.000-08:00

Photos of Marilyn Monroe back when she was Norma Jeane.

Beautiful Portrait of Retro Girls

2012-01-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

Sophia Loren by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Italy, 1961

2012-01-19T11:02:00.000-08:00