Favorite Era Photograph

[DecoDame]

I'm curious, what are your favorite photographs from the era? And why? Why do you keep returning to it again and again? Why do you perhaps have a dog-eared copy of it pinned to your board or on your fridge? What does it mean to you?

I couldn't just pick one.

The first is here, to put it plainly, because it's pretty. It's women and a young girl on a yacht in 1928. I don't like it because I envy that lifestyle (though time on the water can be great). I just love the composition, the fashions, the material textures, etc. As I said, it's just pretty.
Edward Steichen, 1928



The second one is very different. Not posed at all, a candid photo taken while the women are working and interacting with the customers. I like the mood of the women (just post-war in Paris, so I can infer some relief with the joy), the light coming in and the real-life immediacy of it. It's a moment many of us have had and it feels familiar. Every time I see it I feel like I can walk right into the frame.
Willy Ronis, Paris, 1946, "The Chip Sellers"


Edit: I don't know why they're loading smaller and poorer quality than I had; I'll have to figure that out. But please, carry on, people who know what they're doing!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I found this on Shorpy years ago --



These are teenage migrant fruit pickers on strike at a farm in California in 1936. I love their spirit, their attitude, and the fact that they each remind me of a particular one of my theatre kids. And the guy in the middle is pretty easy to look at too.

 

[St. Louis]

I love that photograph. They look so confident and committed.

Here's one of my all-time favorites: Italian resistance fighters during WWII. I haven't been able to find out too much about these people. It's a stock photo, and everywhere it carries the same caption: "A group of Italian resistance fighters who helped South African troops in Pistoia to locate German snipers." Apparently this photo was taken in 1944.

I love the look of intense concentration on the woman at the far left, and the gallant laughter of the one on the far right.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I always liked this one. It's from 1939. I like the ill-fitting dress on the girl on the right and the dirty work trousers/wrinkled comfy shirt on the gal on the left. And their happy mama in the middle. Just everything about this photo is great. And the hair still looks great, regardless of the sloppy clothing!

 

[St. Louis]

I love that photo. You know, I think a lot of clothes from the Era look wrinkled or sloppy in photos, but that's just because they were made from natural fibers, and were probably worn and washed much more than most modern garments. I find the dress at the far right fascinating, because I've been studying summer clothes from the 30s and 40s, and I've found very few real sundresses in catalogs and magazines from those decades. This is a really great find, Amy Jeanne.

 

[TheSacredFemme]

Love the last trio Amy Jeanne posted! Shows that not even ladies of the past could always look immaculate. Perfection gets a bit boring anyway, don't you think?


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