LIFE Archives: LIFE Photographer Nina Leen
24/06/2011 § Leave a comment
Nina Leen is easily one of my favorite LIFE photographers. She was one of the first female photographers for LIFE and has a prolific body of work. You’ve probably noticed I’ve featured her work a few times on the blog a few times — my most favorite images are from her studies of the American Woman and the American Man in the mid-1940s — and I recently went looking in the archives to see if I couldn’t find a few pictures of the woman behind the camera. I found some great images; Nina looks spunky, arty and so effortlessly cool. I wasn’t aware it was possible, but I may love her even more…
Down the Rabbit Hole: National Library of Scotland on Flickr
15/06/2011 § Leave a comment
I have slipped down yet another rabbit hole that I thought I would share with you. While looking through pictures of children with odd animals (Don’t ask me why I search for such things, I have no idea. But the reward is finding a picture of a girl with a wombat on a bicycle! Yes!), I happened upon a collection of images from the First World War maintained by the National Library of Scotland. Taken from the papers of Field Marshal Earl Haig (1861-1928), these images are wartime propaganda and infinitely interesting.
“These photographs provide us with an invaluable record of how the Government and Military wanted the war perceived. Official photographers were encouraged to record morale-boosting scenes of victory and comradeship. Despite the restrictions placed on them, official war photographers succeeded in giving the most comprehensive visual account of the war. It is important to remember that these images were propaganda; few that could depict the war in a disheartening or disconcerting way passed the censors. As a result the photograph taken was often posed. They were intended to reassure those at home and boost morale. They were printed in newspapers, and were intended to confirm that ‘Tommy’ was winning the war.” Via the National Library of Scotland
I won’t make you look at all of them, but if you’d like to there are more after the jump. To see even more, head over to the National Library of Scotland.
LIFE Archives: Farewell at Penn Station
31/05/2011 § 2 Comments
Searching the LIFE Archives with Memorial Day at the front of my mind, I discovered these poignant images taken by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. Taken in 1943 and 1944 at the original Penn Station, these photographs capture servicemen saying goodbye to their wives, girlfriends and lady friends prior to shipping off for WWII. These kisses were meant to last until that happy day of reunion, but for some, they were destined to be a final farewell.
LIFE Archives: The Youngest Cowgirl, 1955
24/05/2011 § 5 Comments
I’m feeling a bit horsey lately (have you noticed?) and these pictures completely blew my mind. At 15 months, Jean Anne Evans, a cowgirl from Texas, could ride better than she could walk. In 1955, LIFE Magazine photographer Allan Grant captured some amazing images of Jean Anne in action on her family’s ranch near Fort Davis on a roundup of their 1,000 head herd.
Jean Anne’s first ride was at one month with her mother, and her first solo ride followed when she was 11 months. With her mother and father always close at hand, she had only fallen once in her 15 months and it was only because her horse shied.
Seriously, how amazing is this mother/daughter portrait?
To view the issue of LIFE these images appeared in, head here.
Down the Rabbit Hole: paws22 on Flickr
23/05/2011 § 2 Comments
Just found a wonderful cache of old photographs on Flickr that I wanted to share with you. Specializing in images of children, moustachioed gentlemen, pipe smokers, dandies, soldiers and cowboys, paws22 has created a remarkable collection of images that had me wandering around for hours. Head over to his photostream for an abundance of vintage inspiration. I’ve included a few favorites below.
LIFE Archives: Circus City USA, 1947 {Hugo, Oklahoma}
25/04/2011 § 40 Comments
What I love most about the LIFE archives, is how completely I disappear down a rabbit hole for hours. Seriously. Most times, when I take a stroll through, I’ll just start off with a single word query. Could be a name, could be a place, or even just a year, it doesn’t matter — every single time I discover something amazing.
With Water for Elephants at the front of my mind, I wanted to see if I could find any old circus pictures for my Tumblr. My first query turned up some lovely images taken by one of my favorite photographers, Nina Leen, in 1949 — you can see them here and here — but little more digging revealed a photo that was unrelated to Leen’s set, and amazing in its own right.
The image of this man so lovingly tending his tiny horse immediately drew me in. Where was this? When was this? Why was this linked to a group of photos about the circus? As it turned out, this image belongs to a set taken by Cornell Capa for LIFE Magazine in April 1947, in Hugo, Oklahoma. A quick bit of research later, I discovered Hugo’s interesting history. Frequently referred to as “Circus City USA,” Hugo has been the favored winter grounds for more than 22 traveling circuses since 1937, owing to a central location, flat lands and temperate weather. In those winter months, Hugo’s elephant population is the second-largest elephant herd in the United States. Hugo is also home to one of only two cemeteries in the United States dedicated to circus performers, called “Showman’s Rest.”
The photos are amazing, but I don’t want to drown you in images, so I have included many of them after the jump. If you are so inclined to wander through, you can do so at your leisure. But before we get there, I will force you to take a look at some of my very favorites.
You cannot begin to imagine how excited I was to find these images: the handmade costumes, the obvious pride in showmanship, the families of performers, the exotic animals, juxtaposed with a regular, run of the mill Midwestern town in 1947. Capa’s images of Hugo are simply amazing.
View knife throwers, clowns, acrobats, trapeze artists,
bears, among others, after the jump.
LIFE Archives: The American Man {also, Nina Leen}
08/03/2011 § 9 Comments
For the August 26, 1946 issue of LIFE Magazine, photographer Nina Leen was tapped again to capture distinctly American characters. After photographing the American girl for “The American Look” article in 1945, she then turned her lens on “The American Man.” Leen’s European roots — she was born in Russia, and lived in Germany, Switzerland and Italy — and her seven years living in the US were touted as perfect credentials, as she had become “thoroughly familiar with American men without becoming used to them.” Leen’s article is an amusing view on the character and habits of the “exotic” American man, coupled with beautiful images of postwar menswear.
“HE IS HUSKY, takes enormous quantities of physical exercise.
HE IS HANDSOME, but not so handsome as he thinks he is.
HE IS COLLEGIATE, manages to resmemble a Yale man for years.”
“HE LOVES SMALL ANIMALS, will often stop on the sidewalk to scratch the ears of a stray cat.
HE EATS ICE CREAM in enormous quantities, savoring it as a Frenchman would a vintage wine.
HE MARRIES EARLY, usually looks entirely too younge to be the father of his growing family.”
“HE DRINKS MILK when dining out. In Europe only invalids or men with ulcers would do this.
HE IS TALL and likes to look taller. He considers being six feet tall a personal achievement.
HIS SECRETARY is apt to be very pretty, something which European wives would not tolerate.
LEFT TO HIMSELF at the delicatessen, he runs amok, always buys too much beer, cold meat.”
“A BLUR is all one seems of him in the morning as he bursts from his house to make the train.
BUT HE DAWDLES, once in the city, stopped by excavations, shop windows, tennis matches.
HIS BUSINESS SUIT is his uniform. With it he wears a four-in-hand tie, may carry a briefcase.”
“One thing that Miss Leen immediately noticed about the American is his legs…Their favorite position, particularly during business conferences, is on tables or desks, the higher the better.”
This last group of images of the “slouching American man” is my favorite. Leen shot these at the New York office of Young & Rubicam, an ad agency founded in 1923 that still operates to this day at its original Madison Avenue address. What we are treated to are photos of real Mad Men.
Did you notice he’s drinking milk?
I was able to dig up plenty of images Leen took for this article in the LIFE archives. They are such a wonderful look at the 1946 American male, through the amused eyes of Leen.
How sweet is Hughie?!
Hey, mister suspenders — I really heart your anchor tattoo.
All images via LIFE.
Further reading: “LIFE: The American Man“
LIFE Archives: The Orient Express
01/02/2011 § 3 Comments
As captured in June 1950 by LIFE Photographer Jack Birns…
To read the article these pictures were originally shot for, in the Sept 11, 1950 issue of LIFE magazine, head here.
Quite Continental 