Comments on: Poverty's palette

Poverty's palette

madamjujujive — Fri, 14 May 2004 16:17:14 -0800

In our mind's eye, much of the past exists in black and white. (via gordon.coale)

By: angry modem

angry modem — Fri, 14 May 2004 16:23:56 -0800

These are great photographs. It's so weird to see this period in time so crisp.

By: vorfeed

vorfeed — Fri, 14 May 2004 16:33:28 -0800

Great link. I especially like this photo of railroad workers.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 14 May 2004 16:42:07 -0800

beautiful--everyone looks so much better in color--thanks, juju.

By: wsg

wsg — Fri, 14 May 2004 16:47:39 -0800

Great pics. I wish there were more.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Fri, 14 May 2004 16:54:20 -0800

Seems so distant but the kids shown are about the age my parents would have been.

By: Satapher

Satapher — Fri, 14 May 2004 17:16:20 -0800

makes me think of Ti Jean

By: rafter

rafter — Fri, 14 May 2004 17:23:40 -0800

Sure does make a difference. (Self-links, all of 'em. For best results, hold your hand over one half of the screen. Alternate.)

By: digaman

digaman — Fri, 14 May 2004 17:31:10 -0800

Ah, Ti Jean. Oui, Satapher, moi aussi.

By: digaman

digaman — Fri, 14 May 2004 17:31:38 -0800

Nice, rafter.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Fri, 14 May 2004 17:35:21 -0800

wow. just wow.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Fri, 14 May 2004 17:35:23 -0800

very cool rafter, thanks!

By: Blue Stone

Blue Stone — Fri, 14 May 2004 17:54:44 -0800

Excellent. My mind thinks it's really strange seeing 'modern people' wearing such odd clothes.

By: rafter

rafter — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:25:19 -0800

Blue Stone: I couldn't help but think "film stills." Badly colorized ones at that. It's really fascinating though -- like the way that period films always look so modern just because they are so crisp and colorful. (quonsar, thanks. If you liked the second photo there, you'll probably like these a lot, too.)

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:51:04 -0800

"This is the first time I've hitch hiked in years and I soon begin to see that things have changed in America, you can't get a ride anymore ..." - Jack Kerouac, Big Sur, 1962

By: nasim

nasim — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:07:12 -0800

Here's my dozen favorites. I stashed copies on my server.

By: carter

carter — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:30:03 -0800

These are wonderful, thanks! There's old ruined homestead houses - like the Pie Town (!) pictures - up in the hills here in Colorado. It's good to see what they looked like when they were lived in.

By: rafter

rafter — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:48:33 -0800

Thanks, nasim. These couple shots would make great posters, especially the second one.

By: abcde

abcde — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:26:42 -0800

This is extremely good. It's surprising to think that there really is hardly any color record of any time before the 50's, and just how real the color makes it.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:32:26 -0800

Excellent. My mind thinks it's really strange seeing 'modern people' wearing such odd clothes. Yeah the color makes things more immediate and real. Its easy to look at b&w photos and think: Sure, their world was strange with Hitler and World Wars and imminent nuclear demise but they were also living in black-and-white. For me, this reminds me of how it could have been us living in those times. It makes it more real.

By: jeremy

jeremy — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:22:38 -0800

Anyone else remember poking around in vintage clothing stores, or better yet, in military surplus stores, when you were young? I always came across old uniforms, in living color, and I had the hardest time picturing people in them. Everything back then was black and white to my young mind. This helps to fill those uniforms with real, colorful people.

By: jeremy

jeremy — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:23:57 -0800

By: jeremy

jeremy — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:24:42 -0800

whoops. connection problems. sorry for the double (nay, triple) post.

By: moonbird

moonbird — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:30:11 -0800

kudos

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:32:25 -0800

Holy cow, rafter.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:50:22 -0800

CALVIN: Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn't they have color film back then? DAD: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs ARE in color. It's just the world was black and white then. CALVIN: Really? DAD: Yep. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too. CALVIN: That's really weird. DAD: Well, truth is stranger than fiction. CALVIN: But then why are old paintings in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way? DAD: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane. CALVIN: But... but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their paints have been shades of gray back then? DAD: Of course, but they turned colors like everything else in the '30s. CALVIN: So why didn't old black and white photos turn color too? DAD: Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?

By: 2sheets

2sheets — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:02:19 -0800

[this is good]

By: tomplus2

tomplus2 — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:36:35 -0800

This is exactly why the Prokudin-Gorskii exhibit blows my mind. You mean there was color back in 1907??

By: twiki

twiki — Sat, 15 May 2004 04:21:49 -0800

It's also why this site is one of my favorites to browse through. You find gems like this all the time.

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Sat, 15 May 2004 04:37:40 -0800

Superb. I think the B&W/Color Divide makes the recent past seem more distant, and people on this side of it more willing to discard any wisdom/experience gleaned "back then."

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Sat, 15 May 2004 04:40:29 -0800

PS: I still think these people look old.

By: raygirvan

raygirvan — Sat, 15 May 2004 05:18:19 -0800

A while back I collated a few more links on early colour photography: Pre-WW1 and WW1 photos, the work of Frank Hurley, and Autochromes.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 15 May 2004 06:14:21 -0800

Thanks for these.

By: rusty

rusty — Sat, 15 May 2004 06:17:09 -0800

Is it just me, or does it seem like people in the depression had better complexions than we do now? Their skin looks so... healthy.

By: gesamtkunstwerk

gesamtkunstwerk — Sat, 15 May 2004 07:21:42 -0800

There is something about seeing these things in color that makes them feel like memories, not photographs. I remember as a young child being fascinated by the fifties and sixties because the colors seemed so different. It wasn't until adolescence that I realized that this was because of photographic technology. The sixties were always bright, and the fifties were always muted. In my mind's eye I still catch myself picturing bright acid colors when I read about the summer of love, and muted colors when I read about the war years. This is a great post!

By: jeremy

jeremy — Sat, 15 May 2004 09:38:29 -0800

rusty: less processed food = a better complexion?

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Sat, 15 May 2004 11:21:54 -0800

does it seem like people in the depression had better complexions than we do now See the damage we do by showering and bathing so often? Those people bathed once a week, at most. Soap is hard as hell on your skin over time. Of course, start skipping showers and I'll be the first to tell you you stink.

By: raygirvan

raygirvan — Sat, 15 May 2004 16:39:07 -0800

gesamtkunstwerk There is something about seeing these things in color that makes them feel like memories, not photographs. Odd you should say that. I was just commenting to my wife that this and this Prokudin-Gorskii photo of Vitebsk in 1912 give me a very intense feeling of nostalgia, of having been there, though I never have. There's certainly something about these images that messes with your head.

By: of strange foe

of strange foe — Tue, 25 May 2004 07:38:12 -0800

This is a great thread. And rafter, you are the tops!