Comments | baleanoptera: While you wait

baleanoptera

While you wait

Mar 29, 2008 23:20

In 1928 there was a huge fair in this city, and part of the attractions of this fair was a photograph stand. It was called Pictures while you wait, and was literary that. In its time it was cutting edge technology, and people flocked to have their photos taken - and took the images home with them ( Read more... )

remebrance, photo, the norwegian thing

Comments 27

(The comment has been removed)

baleanoptera March 31 2008, 19:10:38 UTC

So glad to hear you liked it, and you echo my thoughts exactly in regards to the interaction. :) I think lage_nom_ai made a really good point above, about how you could sort of see who was used to the camera and who was not. (And I must also admit that I find the thought of someone not being used to having their photo taken a bit strange. I guess that shows how much it is part of our modern culture)

koalathebear March 30 2008, 04:26:46 UTC

Wow I loved this post so much. The people are fascinating-looking as are those folk costumes. My goodness! :) The hair accessories! :)

baleanoptera March 31 2008, 19:08:00 UTC

Thank you! And the hair accessories are really something. To be honest I'm a bit thankful that white, linen scarves went out of fashion. Hee. But so glad to hear you liked them. :)

(The comment has been removed)

baleanoptera April 1 2008, 11:07:13 UTC

Thank you! :)

It's partly unnerving and sad seeing faces of people, persons, who were known and loved some time in the past and now mean absolutely nothing to the beholder.

Oh absolutely. In some aspects these images are a memento mori, not just over the people depicted but also over a culture where photos weren't that common. I have a hard time imagining a "photo while you wait" attraction being as popular today, or that so many people would be so obviously unused to posing for a camera.

mr_kit March 30 2008, 12:14:42 UTC

Wow.

I can't believe how amazing the clothes were that people wore. The 4th photo down in particular. I like the relaxed intimacy there; definitely post-Victorian :-)

baleanoptera April 1 2008, 11:09:50 UTC

Hee. I have a special fondness for the hats and scarves, and I'm a bit sad that hats especially has more or less gone out of fashion. And yes, there is definitely a bit of that relaxed 1920's atmosphere going on there. In some ways these images are right in the centre of the change between the stiff formality of former images, and the looser, more private atmosphere of the snap-shot photo. It's fascinating really.

richlayers March 30 2008, 21:27:02 UTC

I love your commentary as much as I love looking at the pictures.

baleanoptera March 31 2008, 19:11:41 UTC

Thank you - and what a wonderful thing to say. :) So glad to hear you enjoyed the post. I enjoyed sharing these amazing images very much as well.

richlayers April 1 2008, 00:36:42 UTC

See, I think if it was just the images, after a while they would start to blur together in my mind, and then I would just stop looking and noticing. But when someone has already taken the time to note a few interesting things about them, they come back to life and are individually interesting again. So, thanks for taking the time. :)