Historical Images and What I'm Doing with Them
NOTE: I'm posting this Discussion both here and in the Photography as Fine Art Group as well. Because discussions posted in the Photography Tab appear on the Front Page, there are chances for greater exposure than when posting to the Group; at some point, I may eliminate the Group and ask that all photography discussions be posted at the tab. Please feel free to offer feedback.
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I recently acquired roughly 1000 Magic Lantern Photographic Slides .
Magic lanterns , also known as optical lanterns, provided one of the most popular forms of entertainment during their heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries, establishing many of the first 2-D special effects.
Using an artificial light source and a combination of lenses, these devices enlarged small transparency images or miniature models and projected them onto a wall or screen.
While most magic lanterns were designed as simple wooden boxes fitted with a handful of precision brass parts, a few were ornately decorated with exotic painted scenes or engraved metal casings.
Street Scene, Cologne, Germany, 1903
Sunken Gardens, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, April, 1904
Conversation Between Two Women, West Point, New York, 1914
Here's another
Berlin, Germany, 1903
And one more ...
Niagara Falls with Tourist Boat, 1904
Lots more if you enjoy these.
Very cool! I'm amazed at how sharp the first one is...110 years ago!
I enjoyed...looking forward to seeing more! Thanks Mac!
Let's see them - I love looking at historical photos. The photo of the "sunken gardens" brought back young childhood memories. There were sunken gardens in a park near where I grew up. They had pools in which there were goldfish. My mother used to take me there often. I assume the one you posted was "colourized".
I have located a photo of the "sunken gardens" my mother walked me to when I was a little kid. Here it is....memories are made of this:
They are located on periphery of the campus where I eventually got my Bachelor's Degree. I wonder if it's still there.
Those are really neat A. Mac!
Really like the street scene; agree with Uptownchick and am blown away by the definition in that old of a picture.
"In the 1820s, the brilliantly focused limelight, created by igniting oxygen and hydrogen gases on a ball of lime..."
So THAT"S where the expression "In the limelight" came from. We learn something new every day. Thanks for posting this, A.Mac.
I think that part of the sharpness of the picture was due to the lighting. If you notice the shadows you will see that the sun was at a fairly low angle. Low angle light, rather than high angle (see the west point photo) lights within the subjects, that is it gets under and provides Contrast across the subjects, rather than contrast down the subjects and therefor makes them seem more textured. Plus the photo was taken in full sun. The west point one looks as if it were on a hazy or overcast day.
I have the new version on my street and they are so much nicer to look at then the old city street lights. They give the neighborhood a classy look and says this place is warm andfriendly.
I'm with Buzz, I love looking at historical photos as well. Can you upload them to a website we can scroll through?
Like Flickr?
A.Mac only knows about this because he's a fan of Marvel Comics! And, btw, Green Lantern was one of my favorites (behind Silver Surfer), but the movie was just horrible!
These are amazing pictures Mac! I love the sunken gardens.
It is amazing to me the detail that these old photos have. And when I look at the date, It is even weirder that I was born in that century.
Keep them coming!
I'll post them here and on my personal site ... stay tuned because I have to scan, clean/restore in some cases and embed keywording and ownership info.
More to come as I get the ready.
If you go to the NT front page ... on the left sidebar "A Word From Our Sponsor" will take you to my site where they're added regularly.
Will do.
I LOVE old pictures! And these are great!
Thanks for posting them!
You are quite welcome; I can scan and embed the meta-data and restore (when necessary) a few every day. After the basics, I then create additional digital files based on the specifications of several different publishers.
Aside from publishers, I will share them here. As far as I have determined to date, the thousand slides I have are, if not one-of-a-kind, rare.
Give me a few minutes ... I just prepared another for publication and print production;
View of Berlin, Germany, 1903!
Another Vintage Photograph ... Niagara Falls, 1904
I grew up an hour's drive from Niagara Falls and visited the site many times. This photo shows only one of the two, the two being the Canadian Horseshoe Falls and the American one. I'm not sure which one this photo depicts. I also wonder if the tourist boat was called "The Maid of the Mist at that time.
I've got a lot of pictures, circa 1916-1918, that are really neat, (and funny, too)... I may post some of them, so y'all can see them. I also have pictures of the Hindenburg wreckage. Y'all may enjoy the history of them. Uncle Louis took the pictures with his Kodak Sliding camera-- the camera that the front slid out with accordian pleated sides. They're pretty neat.
If you would like to see them, I'll scan them in again, so that you can.
By all means ... let's see them!
All righty! Maybe I can get some time and set things up to scan again... The Hindenburg pictures are truly historical and neat!
Uncle Louie used an early Photoshop, too... colored lenses. LOL! He was quite innovative for his time!
Where can I view the all? The ones you posted with the article are amazing in their detail and clarity considering their age. It's always fascinating to look at our past and see how far we have come.
I'm restoring and/or cleaning them one-by-one ... there are 900-1000 all told, so, it's a slow process. If you go to the Front Page (click the tab at the top of any page to get there) then go to the left side bar, scroll down and you'll see my add and a link. As I finish scanning an image, I post it -- that's the easiest way to stay current.
I may go back and re-clean and re-scan the ones I first did since I've learned a few techniques since I began.