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December 30, 2007
Out With The Old
Posted by nick at 01:11 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2007
Merry Christmas!!
I'll be off for the next week or so but I just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays- See you next year!
Posted by nick at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2007
More Xmas
Posted by nick at 01:11 AM | Comments (1)
December 19, 2007
The Countdown Is On
Posted by nick at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2007
R & R
I'm taking a few days off but I should be back for one more round of posts before I take my Christmas vacation.
Posted by nick at 12:07 AM | Comments (2)
December 11, 2007
Queries
Here'a another photo that perhaps someone can help me with- now I'm 99% sure these guys are headed off to WWI (the photo was taken in 1917 in Aurora, Illinois and in other photos there are men in army uniforms) but I was wondering if there were any WWI experts who would know for sure.
I'll be using this photo in a book project I'm working on that should probably be out in early Spring 2008- I'm really excited about the book and of course I'll have lots more details about it as we get closer to it's release.
On another note- this is your last chance for suggestions for a Square America redesign. I'm pretty committed to adding a search feature that would allow you to search by date, location, etc... (and also adding a lot more photos that might not fit into the current site) though of course I'll still be curating shows like I do now. If there's anything you'd like me add or change about the site please let me know. I'll also be making some changes here at the Boat Lullabies, the main one being posting photos on a more regular basis. But I've also considered adding some other content such as interviews with other collectors and maybe weekly (or more likely bi-weekly) short essays on individual photos. If you'd rather see me just stick to posting photos that's okay too- now's the time to make your voice heard!
Posted by nick at 11:08 PM | Comments (9)
December 08, 2007
The Mailman
When you're standing in that seemingly endless line at the post office this holiday season don't get mad just think about this friendly mailman instead.
The Mailman from Square America on Vimeo.
Posted by nick at 03:55 PM | Comments (1)
December 07, 2007
Xmas Greetings!!
As I said yesterday, I just added a bunch of photos to The Square America Christmas Spectacular. I think my favorite section is Season's Greetings, my little show of photo Christmas cards. Here are a few of the new ones I added.
Posted by nick at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2007
An Early Christmas Present
I just updated the Square America Christmas Spectacular. I added about 70 photos- 40 of which are in a new section called A Very Kodachrome Christmas, a series of kodachromes slides (most from the same family) from the 50s and 60s. Here are a few.
I'll post some of the other new adds tomorrow.
Posted by nick at 01:43 AM | Comments (1)
December 05, 2007
Classic Ballroom Dances
It was a grey day here in Chicago and I spent the day here in the apartment waiting for snow. For some reason I was reminded of this poem:
Classic Ballroom Dances
Grandmothers who wring the necks
Of Chickens; old nuns
With names like Theresa, Marianne,
Who pull schoolboys by the ear;
The intricate steps of pickpockets
Working the crowd of the curious
At the scene of an accident; the slow shuffle
of the evangelist with a sandwich-board;
The hesitation of the early morning customer
Peeking through the window-grille
Of a pawnshop; the weave of a little kid
Who is walking to school with his eyes closed;
And the ancient lovers, cheek to cheek,
On the dancefloor of the Union Hall,
Where they also hold charity raffles
On rainy Monday nights of an eternal November
-Charles Simic
When I started Square America I envisioned it as being something like this poem. It hasn't really turned out that way- I wish I had photos from that Union Hall dance floor but I don't. What I do have are a series of about 100 photos taken at an Arthur Murray dance studio from 1958 to 1962. I posted some of them here before but now I've posted a larger series of 50 photos here. The photos were all from the estate of the woman pictured here:
The man in the picture was, as far as I can tell, the head instructor. For the most part the photos were taken by a professional photographer who must have photographed most of the events there (and the larger events held at ballrooms in the city) and sold the photographs to the dancers. I am a bit surprised by how many photos this woman bought of the other dancers- some were 8x10s and couldn't have been cheap- but I'm glad she did.
I think this woman is my favorite.
Though this photo is my favorite of the entire series:
It ain't Simic but it's still pretty damn good.
Posted by nick at 01:30 AM | Comments (1)
December 04, 2007
What Was On (November 1963)
In November of 1963 Martin C. Johnson took over 140 photos of the television coverage of JFK's funeral. I've posted some of these here and there in the past but I thought it was high time a posted a larger series so I put together a series of 33 photos that pretty much cover both the assassination and the funeral itself. As this was one of the first events that was primarily experienced through television (as opposed to newspapers or radio) I think it's a worth a look (the reflection of the lamp that's in many of the photos is very literal reminder of how television brought events right into the living room). Of course they're also beautiful photos so check all 33 out here.
Posted by nick at 12:23 AM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2007
The Baby
Here's another video from my home movie collection- this one's another 8mm film (circa 1960) of a baby that was accidentally double-exposed. I used vimeo rather than youtube and I think the quality is a bit better. I think I'll probably upload 24fps versions of all the films I transfer to Archive.org at some point though as I mentioned in the comments to the last post I probably won't be posting mp2s of the films.
Double-Exposed Baby from Square America on Vimeo.
Posted by nick at 02:37 AM | Comments (3)