Comments on: 40 Black and White Photos that Can't Be Explained

40 Black and White Photos that Can't Be Explained

wittgenstein — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:14:46 -0800

40 Black and White Photos that Can't Be Explained (via)

By: mediocre

mediocre — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:18:27 -0800

I'm straight convinced that a lot of the "vintage" photo weirdness that has started showing up on the internet with increasing frequency are 'shops. No pixelsicantellby, just a hunch. That grasshopper "photo", for example.

By: mister-o

mister-o — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:21:36 -0800

Eponysterical. "What the picture must have in common with reality in order to be able to represent it after its manner--rightly or wrongly--is its form of representation. Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must post to buzzfeed."

By: royalsong

royalsong — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:21:42 -0800

the grasshopper has no shadow.

By: flippant

flippant — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:21:49 -0800

Came in for the grasshopper photo. A swarm of those would fuck shit up, to put it mildly.

By: Kokopuff

Kokopuff — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:22:30 -0800

This is an old-timey version of Awkward Family Photos.

By: yoink

yoink — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:22:50 -0800

"Ho ho! I have found this weird photo which I am sure you will find entertaining because of its weirdness! Why on earth could it ever have been made? Who on earth would ever have found weirdness like this entertaining, thus prompting them to make this weird photo? That's just inexplicable! And entertaining!"

By: beaucoupkevin

beaucoupkevin — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:23:04 -0800

Photo manipulation existed long before Photoshop.

By: MCMikeNamara

MCMikeNamara — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:23:07 -0800

"The world is even more awesomely interesting than any of our limited experience allows us to know and has always been that way." BAM -- Explained! But seriously, I love remembering that "fucking with the medium early in its invention" isn't necessarily a new thing.

By: asnider

asnider — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:24:04 -0800

I think the good folks at Buzzfeed have a very different idea of "can't be explained" than I do.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:27:30 -0800

Yeah, the grasshopper one is just a joke postcard. I've seen it in tourist-trap shops here in Montana. I'm sure others exist with other state names. Much like this "I saw a fair-sized tout" postcard.

By: badstone

badstone — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:27:35 -0800

Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:28:16 -0800

I want to read a novella that connects all these photos together as if they are actual depictions of reality.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:29:52 -0800

So, in the first photo, the painter has fallen asleep and his mischievous children have decided to take the opportunity to paint a face on his bald head. The second photo is a humorous picture of a German shepherd with boxing gloves on his front paws standing on his hind legs across from a young boy in boxing gloves. It suggests the two are boxing, but the broad smile on the boy's face suggests he is having a difficult time taking it seriously. The third photo appears to be a novelty tombstone. I don't know, these all seem to be able to be explained.

By: Kabanos

Kabanos — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:30:01 -0800

Pikes Peak quickly became popular, and many people over the years found ways to travel to its summit. The U.S. Signal Service (an early Weather Bureau) built a telegraph station on the summit in 1873 to monitor the weather, and a guard was posted in Manitou at the beginning of the trail to collect a toll for hiking to the summit. On May 25, 1876, an interesting hoax was perpetrated by one of the soldiers and his wife who lived at the summit house when they claimed that their baby daughter had been eaten by giant rats! (Sgt. John O'Keefe had a vivid imagination- earlier he had claimed that Pikes Peak was erupting.). Google, people.

By: stormpooper

stormpooper — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:30:13 -0800

Pics, or it didn't happen. Oh.... guess it did.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:31:23 -0800

The grasshopper and the policeman hanging over the street both seem obvious manipulations, the vast majority of the rest are amusing photos but there are no unexplainable ones. Some of the "Shock" (or whatever) seems to be along the lines of " those people in the olden time could not have had an absurdest sense of humor like we do today!!!" Sort of in line with the "every generation thinks it invented sex" observation.

By: Horace Rumpole

Horace Rumpole — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:32:51 -0800

God I am so sick of hastily-assembled, contextless listicles. Excuse me, I mean "1 Thing Horace Rumpole is Sick Of".

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:33:04 -0800

the grasshopper has no shadow. Lucky for us that he got shot, then.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:33:46 -0800

the grasshopper has no shadow. the grasshopper lies heavy

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:36:36 -0800

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:38:36 -0800

Who you gonna believe, me or your lyin' eyes?

By: workerant

workerant — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:38:37 -0800

#39: Gesundheit?

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:39:55 -0800

In photo 27 clearly one gentleman has slapped his cock on the table and invited two friends to peruse it; this was a common parlour game of the Victorian era.

By: The 10th Regiment of Foot

The 10th Regiment of Foot — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:39:58 -0800

Some of these can be explained. I'm just sayin'.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:40:26 -0800

I do kind of like the crow one (last one) though

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:40:32 -0800

Bunny. Also, a picture of Zoot and Dingo.

By: cccorlew

cccorlew — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:40:47 -0800

I can explain them all: The idea of being humorous, weird or having people on for amusement is not new.

By: gubo

gubo — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:41:10 -0800

Yeah googling can explain many of these. Number 19 is a modern photo (thank goodness!) by Stephen Berkman, using 19th-century methods.

By: resurrexit

resurrexit — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:43:06 -0800

Every one of these is an album cover waiting to happen.

By: charlie don't surf

charlie don't surf — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:43:52 -0800

The grasshopper and the policeman hanging over the street both seem obvious manipulations The policeman is a standard photo trick, it has been used for ages. He really is hanging from a girder, but it's not hanging out over Times Square. The photo is cropped so you can't see he's safely hanging about 10 feet off the roof.

By: Navelgazer

Navelgazer — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:46:12 -0800

Huh. And here I just liked all of the interesting old photos showing me that the world is a more bizarre place than I thought.

By: Pruitt-Igoe

Pruitt-Igoe — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:47:58 -0800

Previously

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:48:27 -0800

Johnny B Sart would say that they need no explanation.

By: sageleaf

sageleaf — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:49:15 -0800

Okay, I now have a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald in his backyard holding a rifle and a giant grasshopper. It explains everything. Or it will, once I fix the shadows.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:51:13 -0800

I'm straight convinced that a lot of the "vintage" photo weirdness that has started showing up on the internet with increasing frequency are 'shops. Nah. That kind of stuff was pretty common back then, as it is today. It was a way for photographers to show-off their darkroom and retouching prowess. People had serious mad skilz long before Photoshop happened.

By: orme

orme — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:51:16 -0800

40 Black and White Photos That Confirm People Were Having Fun Even If They Never Smiled In Black and White Photos.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:51:31 -0800

"can't", or SHOULDN'T?

By: MrVisible

MrVisible — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:52:52 -0800

I want to read a novella that connects all these photos together as if they are actual depictions of reality. It's been done, sort of. It was amusing. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

By: aught

aught — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:53:18 -0800

Photo manipulation existed long before Photoshop. Indeed it did. It's so cute that so many folks think photo altering and quirky humor began with the Internet / home computer age.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:56:09 -0800

Man Ray is the godfather of the internet.

By: KathrynT

KathrynT — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:56:31 -0800

MrVisible, I was just going to recommend that same book.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:02:58 -0800

People have been doing goofy shit and photographing it since there was photography.

By: dances_with_sneetches

dances_with_sneetches — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:03:11 -0800

Viral advertising for year two of American Horror Story.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:03:20 -0800

In photo 27 clearly one gentleman has slapped his cock on the table and invited two friends to peruse it; this was a common parlour game of the Victorian era. This game has been gentrified into "Hungry, Hungry Hippos."

By: staccato signals of constant information

staccato signals of constant information — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:05:41 -0800

I enjoy seeing examples of people just joking around in the past. It humanizes. #38 is just a proto-plushie, though.

By: charlie don't surf

charlie don't surf — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:08:34 -0800

It was a way for photographers to show-off their darkroom and retouching prowess. Not necessarily. Early in the history of photography, there was one school of thought that photos should always be manipulated, otherwise they were just boring reality. It should have possibilities beyond painting, which could show pretty much any scene the painter could imagine. So photomontage was considered the state of the art. People had serious mad skilz long before Photoshop happened. People still have mad skilz without Photoshop. I still claim that anything Photoshop can do, can also be done without digital tools. Although some analog techniques may be difficult to the point of impracticality, they are still possible.

By: NoraReed

NoraReed — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:16:35 -0800

I want to read a novella that connects all these photos together as if they are actual depictions of reality. NaNoWriMo is almost upon us. Make your own dreams come true.

By: zamboni

zamboni — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:16:44 -0800

Exaggeration postcards were a thing.

By: backseatpilot

backseatpilot — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:16:50 -0800

Man Ray is the godfather of the internet. Mapplethorpe, surely.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:17:32 -0800

16 is awesome.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:18:06 -0800

Love 22, too.

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:21:01 -0800

You can't explain that: Gathering of the Juggalos #1

By: plinth

plinth — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:22:58 -0800

The first one is easy. It's clear that the Mad Painter is a recurring human theme.

By: zippy

zippy — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:28:14 -0800

listicles. A minor deity, the bearer of Zeus's clipboard.

By: humboldt32

humboldt32 — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:40:01 -0800

What, no jackalope?

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:41:24 -0800

Does it say anything about my generation when I unconsciously include "physical manipulation of analog photographs" under the umbrella of the term "photoshopped"? I was really quite confused by many comments in this thread...

By: radwolf76

radwolf76 — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:44:46 -0800

This is darkroom chicanery. I can tell from the airbrush strokes in the film grain and from having seen many fine examples of darkroom chicanery in my time.

By: kinnakeet

kinnakeet — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:44:53 -0800

Inexplicable? I don't think so. It was common for early photographers to keep an array of gag props on hand. Many of these photos can be explained by this simple fact--the two women seeking husbands or #36. It was also common for the photographer to arrange little tableaux, since at the time just taking the photograph was a pretty big deal--so might as well make the most of it (1, 5, 28 and 29 for example). That grasshopper thing has been around forever, it's an old postcard. #10 was probably shot for a fakir to capture his best trick; #13 and #31 doubtless depict other (circus? vaudeville?) performers. Anything with a painted backdrop was shot in a photographer's studio (#1, 5, 9, 13, 14, 17, 28, 31, 39) and was set up. All that said, I'd love to know more about #3, and #12 clearly depicts the logistical issues presented when fashion exceeds practicality.

By: dbiedny

dbiedny — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:58:30 -0800

Whole lotta album covers right there. I'm on it.

By: arkham_inmate_0801

arkham_inmate_0801 — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:05:38 -0800

Kinnakeet, For more about #3, see Kabanos' comment.

By: theredpen

theredpen — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:06:06 -0800

Here, I can explain most: gin.

By: FatherDagon

FatherDagon — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:27:50 -0800

I don't get it, all of these are perfectly explicable. For instance, there are several pictures of me doing the exact same thing as #4, including top hat and high boots (my dog serves the place of the pig-horse thing whose name escapes me at the moment). And my brother was eaten by mountain rats, that's not funny.

By: Segundus

Segundus — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:30:31 -0800

I think you'll find that these pictures are completely inexplicable unless God exists. Account for that with your 'Darwinist evolution' if you can. Hah!

By: Slackermagee

Slackermagee — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:59:25 -0800

We must have blundered into a dark age of technology. Clearly, people back in the day had some aetheric chromograph distributor with which to broadcast these delightful set ups.

By: elizardbits

elizardbits — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:06:06 -0800

i for one found #36 to be quite humerus

By: HyperBlue

HyperBlue — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:11:50 -0800

#32: Really hungry meat eater.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:14:02 -0800

Mileages vary. I know people who have (seemingly) 4000 pictures on Facebook, all of which seem to be three or four people in a bar grinning self-consciously for the camera. I cannot explain that.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:52:46 -0800

I've seen 37 before- possibly in an ancient Life magazine? It's a real photo of a live stork whose feet were missing for some reason that I no longer remember. Googling anything with the word "stork" just brings up tons of baby related stuff.

By: interplanetjanet

interplanetjanet — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:00:40 -0800

It saved two children from a motorcycle?

By: Mcable

Mcable — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:23:18 -0800

#38: Furry porn.

By: ovvl

ovvl — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:38:10 -0800

#38: Furry porn. or from Burton's unexpurgated Arabian Nights.

By: ovvl

ovvl — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:45:22 -0800

I want to read a novella that connects all these photos together as if they are actual depictions of reality. Me too. But in the mean time, we'll have to live with Wisconsin Death Trip.

By: unliteral

unliteral — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:34:13 -0800

Not all the grasshopper cards are convincing.

By: Chocolate Pickle

Chocolate Pickle — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:46:01 -0800

There's a straighforward explanation for a lot of these, which also applies to a lot of 1930's era "news of the weird" newsreels. Turns out they came from stringers, and stringers only got paid when they came up something that got used. So it came to be that some stringers got into the business of creating pictures or film which their employers would want, by convincing people to do crazy things, or by image manipulation of various kinds.

By: BlueHorse

BlueHorse — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:57:06 -0800

It's so cute that so many folks think photo altering and quirky humor began with the Internet / home computer age. Yup. Those exaggeration photos have been around forever. I have giant potato and riding the gigantic jackalope postcards that Mr. Bluehorse's granddad sent when he was a tod.

By: Partial Law

Partial Law — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:45:47 -0800

The URL makes it pretty clear that at some point this had the much more reasonable title "Old Photos that Need More Information" but someone else must have dipped in and worked that old BuzzFeed clickbait magic on the title.

By: unliteral

unliteral — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:02:09 -0800

On the dog boxing: Boxing With Dog "20th September 1926: Ralph Miller spars with 10-month old 'Battling Von', a member of the Melford Kennels AC of Los Angeles." From Worthpoint - "Boy Boxes Dog: 'Battling Van', a German Shepherd Police Dog. An original bookplate print, matted and ready for framing, 'Battling Van', a ten month-old German Shepherd, went four rounds with little Ralph Miller during a mock West Coast Juvenile Police Dog Welterweight Championship ... the match was declared a draw. Approximately 4" x 3.5", taken in 1926 this photo-plate has been removed from an old book about famous dogs."

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:12:00 -0800

Every single one of these seems to be explainable under the rubric "people in the past actually had senses of humor." I gather some people won't believe it - 'my god, for what purpose would they put boxing gloves on a dog?' - but it's true.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:17:25 -0800

b1tr0t: "Man Ray is the godfather of the internet." backseatpilot: "Mapplethorpe, surely." Yes, that's it, obviously. Man Ray is the godfather of Mapplethorpe.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:24:36 -0800

Another 50 Unexplainable Black & White Photos.

By: Mr. Yuck

Mr. Yuck — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:22:12 -0800

the grasshopper has no shadow And the man who tried to kill it with bullets is celebrating a triumph both false and brief.

By: Decani

Decani — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:23:25 -0800

Well, the first one is incredibly easy to explain so I'm not that convinced by the premise.

By: Lipstick Thespian

Lipstick Thespian — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:29:30 -0800

Isn't this the "Nightmare Fuel or Decemberists Album Cover" Tumblr?

By: Hardcore Poser

Hardcore Poser — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 10:06:47 -0800

I want to read a novella that connects all these photos together as if they are actual depictions of reality.

There was a novel based on a similar idea of unexplained photos: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. And soon it will be a Tim Burton movie.