Aug 15, 2009

Woof


I got nothing. Brain is dry as yesterday's toast.


So let's look at some doggie pictures. Why not?


When you look at photos of strangers it's often "whatever..." But sometimes you get the feeling that you know the person. Like this guy - I'm convinced he was funny, friendly, kind. He is certainly good looking. 1948... probably too young to be drafted into the war. Good for him.


Pictures of people with their heads cropped off are fascinating.


Sometimes it's not the subject matter, but the environment that's most interesting. Gotta love 60's interior decoration.

16 comments:

Cafe Pasadena said...

This may be your best work yet on this particular blog of yours! There's just sumthing about it that makes the tail wag.

VM Sehy Photography said...

You'd love my mom. She always managed to cut off people's heads in photos somehow. That's how I ended up getting into photography. She would give up and give me the camera and say see what you can do with it.

PS - While the young gentleman in the photo would have been too young to participate in World War II, there's a good chance he went to Korea. If so, I hope it didn't change him. War sucks.

nadiiaevans said...

Thanks for sharing it! I enjoy looking through old pictures.

Vanda said...

Dang, I forgot about Korea. I hope he had flat feet or something.

Anonymous said...

I have a book of nothing but family with dog pictures. What strikes me is that the family members appear very reserved with each other, but everyone is hugging and kissing and petting the dog.

(Now we're all worried about the 1948 guy. It maybe doesn't bode well that the photo was out on the open market.)

Anonymous said...

the fellow would have been my fathers age. He got out of the Korean war due to flat feet; his brother for being a 1/4 inch to tall.

With all the current attraction to mid-century modern, these photos truly show how such lofty ambitions played out in the average middle class american home. The bottom was shot in the 70's I know because the fellow is wearing wallabees. A shoe that was the hight of fashion back then. Another thing that I forgot about is that there was some kind of weird colonial revival thing paralleling modernist 60's design.

Did I mention orange shag and mustard colored drapes? Ramona went in for that

Jean Spitzer said...

I had the same reaction to the black and white photo--felt like I knew him.

My experience is that having the dog with them while being photographed results in happier, more relaxed-looking humans.

Margaret said...

My own experience is that it is incredibly hard to take good dog pictures. My daughter brought the camera to an agility-training class I'm taking with my dog. She ended up with about 30 pictures of dog butts.

Emma J said...

I've been following your blog in stealth for some time - just have to say - love these old photos, love the thoughtful essays on sci-fi and film.

Also hoping retroactive good wishes might ease the way of that kind and friendly young man of 1948. Where do you get all these photos?

Vanda said...

Thanks Emma. I get them at paper shows and flea markets mostly. Every few months there is a paper show where vendors sell postcards, photos, old ads, posters, magazines, etc.

Margaret, I took one good dog photo in my life - I managed to click the shutter at the exact second the dog was staying still. One trick is to get down to their level.

Karin, your family or somebody else's ?

PA, wallabees? Isn't that an animal?

Anonymous said...

Not my family, just a book of anon people. Although, take a walk through my family's scrapbook and I'm pretty sure you'd find the same.

Anonymous said...

yes and also a shoe

Anonymous said...

I hardly ever respond but I really like your blog. This is another brilliant post. I like the pictures very much and also: "Brain as dry as yesterday's toast"? Where do you come up with such lines? I love it.

Vanda said...

Thanks Jo, you make me blush.

phoebat said...

This blog is lovely. Have you ever considered writing stories about the found pictures?

I'm hoping that handsome young man was like my grand dad who'd managed to fit between 2 wars without going to fight.

Thanks for sharing.

West Coast Grrlie Blather said...

I liked the olden days when the month and date was conveniently right on the print. I liked the olden days...when there were prints.

Ditto on "brain dry as yesterday's toast."