Charles Isaacs, Parade at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1975
After the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975, the US State Department established four refugee resettlement camps in California, Arkansas, Florida, and Pennsylvania. From May 28 to December 15, 1975, over 32,000 Vietnamese and Cambiodian refugees lived on the US Army post now called the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, in southeastern Pennsylvania, awaiting resettlement.
Unidentified Photographer, [Unidentified Woman], ca. 1935
The Daniel Cowin Collection of African American Vernacular Photography
Unidentified Photographer, Bob Capa, New York, 1938
Weegee, [Press photographers], ca. 1941
Weegee, The boys were busy, ca. 1945
Weegee, Weegee with his Speed Graphic camera, ca. 1944
Graflex, Weegee’s Speed Graphic camera, ca. 1940-47
The New B & J Press Camera, 1941, pp. 4-5
The New B & J Press Camera, 1941, p. 21
Weegee purchased a Speed Graphic camera in 1930, nevertheless, in a 1941 promotional brochure for a new Burke and James press camera, Weegee is quoted: “I use a B&J Press Camera in my work as a free lance Press Photographer. It will photograph anything from a crying baby to a 5 alarm fire. It’s the best all-around camera that I know of – and I ought to know as I’ve tried them all.” The New B & J Press Camera, 1941, , p. 5
And Weegee offers a number of slightly amusing helpful tips, including: “At auto smash-ups don’t throw lighted cigarettes near the scene of the wreckage. Its apt to ignite the spilled gasoline and start a fire or explosion… Play ball with other cameramen. If they should miss a shot, offer them one of yours. This will make friends… And in conclusion, always act like a gentleman. Don’t worry about a press card. Your B & J Camera will get you through any police or fire line. That’s what the boys on the papers use and you will be one of them.” p. 5
In the last chapter, “Camera Tips,” of Naked City (1945), Weegee wrote:
“The only camera I use is a 4×5 Speed Graphic with a Kodak Ektar Lens in a Supermatic shutter, all American made… I always use a flash bulb for my pictures which are mostly taken at night… I also use a Graflex flash synchronizer and the exposure is always the same, 1/200 part of a second stop 1/16, that is, at a distance of ten feet… If you are puzzled about the kind of camera to buy, get a Speed Graphic… for two reasons… it is a good camera and moreover, it is standard equipment for all press photographers..” pp. 239-40
Speed Graphic cameras were made by Graflex, a company based in Rochester, New York, from 1912 to 1973.
Yousef Karsh, [Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh], 1984
Yousef Karsh, [Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with their grandchildren], 1987
In 1867, politicians debated whether to call this newly forged country The Kingdom of Canada. John A. MacDonald, leader of the Canadian parliament and Lord Derby, British Foreign Secretary, deemed the phrase too provocative for the antimonarchial Americans of that time. Lord Derby supposedly claimed that “it would wound the sensibilities of the Yankees.” The politicians settled on The Dominion of Canada.
Debate continued about whether the term “dominion” meant that Canada held dominion from sea to sea or whether it referred to its colonial status under British rule. Although the term was phased out in the 1950s and 60s, the constitution was not repatriated until 1981 when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau finally succeeded in reform that would give Canada an independent constitution – 114 years after confederation. In addition to the constitutional changes, bills were passed to change what was once called Dominion Day to Canada Day and, in October 1982, it finally became the official name of the holiday.
However, debate still continues about whether or not the current monarchy accurately reflects modern Canada. It’s argued that a British-linked monarchy identified with colonial conquest is an inappropriate symbol for a country that is largely identified by its French and First Nations people and its increasing multiethnic, multiracial, and multireligious populations.
A bit of inspiration for high school students who eventually may have to write a book report of one of the following authors:
Robert Capa, [Ernest Hemingway reading his notes, Sun Valley, Idaho], 1940-41
Nickolas Muray, [D.H. Lawrence], ca. 1925
Dan Weiner, Arthur Miller, 1952
George Rodger, Gertrude Stein in Salzburg, 1945
Philippe Halsman, John Steinbeck, 1957
Elinor Carucci, Feet Moving On Bed, 1999
jumping up and down?
lying down and kicking her feet?
a policewoman?
a teacher?
a dancer?
a grandmother-to-be?
exited?
frustrated?
happy?
For the complete “Closer” series from Elinor Carucci, the 2001 ICP Infinity Award Winner for Young Photographer, please visit her website.
Ernst Haas, [Central Park, New York City], 1952
“A final glow of sun illumines the tower of the Hotel Pierre and sends a radiant image across the lake in Central Park” is the caption of Ernst Haas’ image in the September 14, 1953 issue of Life Magazine. The image is one in a series of twenty-four photographs that was part of the first color essay published by Life. The essay, “Images of a Magic City,” reflects Haas’ poetic use of color in his work. During the 1950s and 1960s he continued to develop an aesthetic language in which color became an integral part of his photographic composition. In Haas’ exhibition of 1962 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, John Szarkowski said: “The color in color photography has often seemed an irrelevant decorative screen between the viewer and the fact of the picture. Ernst Haas has resolved this conflict by making the color sensation itself the subject matter of his world. No photographer has worked more successfully to express the sheer physical joy of seeing.”
(Source: Bruce Silverstein Gallery)
“ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 22 — Eastman Kodak Company announced today that it will retire Kodachrome Color Film this year, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon. Sales of Kodachrome Film, which became the world’s first commercially successful color film in 1935….As part of a tribute to Kodachrome Film, Kodak will donate the last rolls of the film to George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, which houses the world’s largest collection of cameras and related artifacts. Steve McCurry will shoot one of those last rolls and the images will be donated to Eastman House…”
Cornell Capa, Political advertisement, 1960
Cornell Capa, Kennedy supporters line the train route nears Marysville, California, September 8, 1960
Cornell Capa, Michigan, September 5, 1960
Cornell Capa, Kennedy speaking to voters from the back of the campaign train, September 8-9, 1960
Cornell Capa, New York City, October 19, 1960
it’s the 2009 summer solstice…
Paul Caponigro, Stonehenge, 1978
PM Daily, Vol. 1, No. 1, June 18, 1940
On June 18, 1940, PM newspaper started publishing.
PM was an innovative and progressive (and relatively expensive) liberal daily newspaper.
The first issue is somewhat typical: articles about World War II and why the U.S. should join the fight; praise of F.D.R. and F.D.R.’s praise of PM; New York City news – a page about the opening of a portion of the East River Drive; entire sections devoted to news about labor and consumer information; radio program listings; recipes; a distillation of advertising from other newspapers; a large and colorful map; and a bit of cheesecake (photos of a Gypsy Rose Lee performance in France).
PM was innovative in many way: PM didn’t sell advertising (for six years); didn’t own its presses (for a few years); printed in color; used a new printing process on good paper…
PM was ahead of its time in media criticism. It progressively and aggressively (perhaps at times over-zealously) covered and critiqued other media, mostly other newspapers. In a 1940 pre-publication office memorandum, publisher Ralph Ingersoll wrote about his plans for offering media literacy in a daily section called “Unorthodox News. A department devoted to the news of the Press itself, not only because we think this news is interesting to the public, but also because we feel that it’s important for the people of a democracy to understand their principal medium of information.” PM was also a pioneer in printing listings of radio programs for both AM and the nascent FM.
PM was also ahead of its time in its use of photographs and the way it acquired images. Ingersoll’s experience working at magazines such as Life, Time, and the New Yorker influenced his concept of what an ideal newspaper should be and what it should look like. From Ingersoll’s manifesto-like pre-publication office memorandum: “PM Will Be Written in Words and Pictures. PM’s choice of pictures: Over half of PM’s space will be filled with pictures—because PM will use pictures not simply to illustrate stories, but to tell them. Thus, the tabloids notwithstanding, PM is actually the first picture paper under the sun. . . . PM has made a contract with one of the major picture agencies [and only one of the major picture agencies, this became a source of significant litigation] for its full international picture service. PM will also maintain a staff of its own photographers, headed by Margaret Bourke-White, and employing the foremost experts [where else were photojournalists called "experts"?] in the country. In addition to this, special editors [principally Ralph Steiner] of PM will devote all their time and energy to tapping every possible photographic source, such as the 12,000,000 American camera fans [anticipating "crowd sourcing" or public photojournalism and web sites like Flickr by 60 years], government bureaus, foreign agencies, etc… (PM does not believe in horror for horror’s sake—but its editors will not deny its readers truth of social importance simply because it’s unpleasant).” Weegee published hundreds of photos, and often wrote his own captions, in PM.
In 1940, the roster of photographers working for PM included Gene Badger, Margaret Bourke-White, John DeBiase, Morris Engel, Irving Haberman, Leo Lieb, Mary Morris, Ray Platnick, and Weegee.
The first issue sold out very quickly and the delivery trucks were mobbed by inquisitive customers. The following week sales fell precipitously. World War II took its toll on PM… After printing some of the most important photos of the twentieth century and some great writing by, among others, Richard Wright, losing millions of dollars, PM stopped publishing in 1948.
W. Eugene Smith, Igor Stravinsky, ca. 1951
Arnold Newman, Stravinsky, 1946
Cornell Capa, [Igor Stravinsky, Venice], 1951
“I know that the twelve notes in each octave and the variety of rhythm offer me opportunities that all of human genius will never exhaust.” – Igor Stravinsky
“My God, so much I like to drink Scotch that sometimes I think my name is Igor Stra-whiskey.” – Igor Stravinsky (possibly apocryphal)
