past

Reflecting on Old Photographs: Nathan’s Famous Since 1916

When I was maybe six years old, my father introduced me to Nathan’s. We had dropped off his mother at her what was to me dreary apartment. That woman never seemed happy to me, and it wasn’t until I became an adult, I understood why.

Nostalgia and the Collapse of Imagination

“Regardless of what it signifies, any photographic image also connotes memory and nostalgia, nostalgia for modernity and the twentieth century, the era of the pre-digital, pre-post-modern.” --Lev Manovich

There will always be a need to connect to the past. Contemporary culture actively and unconsciously cycles through past follies and reflects upon progress. It is no surprise then, that we see popular culture re-presenting past generations. Perhaps more so than any other period in our recent past, today’s pop-cultural climate is mimicking that of the 1970s.

Daughter Creatively Inserts Herself Into Her Mother’s Childhood Photos

Portland-based Art Director Danielle Delph says she often wonders if her mother and her would have been friends if they had grown up together. And while that question can't be answered in a literal sense (yet... not giving up hope on a time-machine just yet), Delph put her impressive Photoshop skills to use answering it metaphorically.

The Camera of the Future Isn’t From the Past

In an insightful essay about the "graying" of photography, Kirk Tuck opines about seeing 50-year old men proudly displaying their huge DSLRs while hanging out at the counters at the Photo Plus Expo in New York last month. The generation that obsessed over pristine primes, low noise and 16×20 prints has been supplanted by a gaggle of Snapchatting millennials for whom photography is no different than a text conversation.

Photos of Modern Day Locations Blended with Shots of Major Historical Events

In 2010, photographer Seth Taras created a series of photographs for a worldwide marketing campaign for the History Channel with the message "Know Where You Stand." The photographer shot photos at locations around the world where major historical events happened, and then blended old photos showing those events from the same perspective. It's the same "then and now" concept that has become quite popular over the past few years.

A Complete Professional Photography Kit for $15.35… Back in the Year 1900

Want to buy all the camera equipment you need to start a photography business for just $15.35? All you'll need is... a time machine! Reddit user sneeden found this Sears Roebuck and Co. consumer guide for the fall of 1900. Two of the pages inside the catalog are for view camera kits that can help anyone "start in a pleasant and good paying business."

Glimpse of Better Times: Then-and-Now Photos of an Abandoned Detroit School

To "raise awareness of the social and economic challenges the city of Detroit," website Detroiturbex explores and photographs abandoned buildings and places in and around the city. One of its recent projects focuses on Lewis Cass Technical High School, which had its building devastated by a major fire in 2007 (the building was subsequently demolished).

Childhood Photos Reshot in the Present

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH is a neat photo project by Taylor Jones that collects pictures of pictures from the past in the present. These are images that show old photos held up and aligned to the present day location, offering a glimpse into what once was.

Ed Helms Introduces Digital Cameras on The Daily Show

Here's a fun blast from the past: in the early 2000s The Daily Show ran this short segment in which Ed Helms (now known for playing Andy Bernard on The Office) introduces viewers to digital cameras. It's an interesting glimpse at how some people felt about the emergence of digital photography as it was starting to become popular.

Nikon F5 SLR Commercial from 1997

Did you know Nikon SLRs were doing video before things shifted toward digital? This commercial was made back in 1997 by Alastair Thain, and was shot entirely on a Nikon F5 SLR camera, which could shoot up to 8 frames per second. More than 200 rolls of 36-exposure film were developed to create the resulting film.