excerpts from "the picture press"

When Mark and I were in Mystic, Connecticut over Valentine's Day, you may recall we bought a truckload of books. Many of these were exhibition catalogues from the MoMA, most of which date to the sixties and seventies. The photos above refer to "The Picture Press." This show appeared in 1973 as a study of the advancement of photography in the world of journalism. So, there is a good deal of attention to development and printing techniques but also the eye of the journalist. The photographs take a turn over the years and become more openly comical or disturbing which is so interesting to follow in the catalogue. I spared you the more graphic shots be it a suicide pact, people running from a bomb, or a child petting his puppy after it was run over. I'm not kidding. If New Yorker's didn't walk into this exhibit and cry, I would be amazed.

I'm going to share more of these but here are some initial favorites I was able to scan today.

1. Flood - Photographer Unknown, Associated Press, January 27, 1969
"Flood waters cascade through door in Mandeville Canyon, near Los Angeles."
Scary, I know. This one got me thinking about the oil spill and all those nasty people who say New Orleans isn't worth the money and needs to be shut down. To that I say, California gets crazy weather from earthquakes, forest fires, and flooding to name a few. So it has Hollywood but New Orleans has jazz, the bayou, and voodoo. I'm just saying to the nasty people let's keep all of our states please!

2. This Is What Crazy Looks Like (my title) by Bill Quinn, New York Daily News, September 21, 1964
"Mrs. Nikki Shuttleworth holds Shawnee Trade Mark, adjudged best-in-show, and also holds blue ribbons won by her other entry, Shawnee White Wash, a long-haired Persian, who was runner-up at the annual International Cat Show in the Garden." One, where does this lady come up with these pet names? Two, why didn't White Wash get to be in the photo instead of those four ribbons? Lastly, this woman scares me.

3. Photographer Unknown, Photoworld, December 1948
This is the ultimate disturbing photo. Here's the caption: "Jack Riddle, 107, and his wife Josey, 86, were surprised just before Christmas by the Ku Klux Klan, complete with Klan Santa Claus, who presented them with a radio, for which the ex-slave had expressed a wish, saying he "wanted to hear the preachers." The Klan publicized the "good will" visit ten days after it occurred." Yeah, I don't think a radio is going to make him like or forgive you all that much.

4. Pint Sized Pin-Ups by Ed Clarity, New York Daily News, August 5, 1956
The caption is just the girls names and that they look "coy." I find this creepy.

5. Rupert (Rhino) by Chris Mills, Photoworld, date unknown
Accompanying news caption: "The days of "bliss" for Rhodesia's most famous orphan--Rupert the rhio--are gradually drawing to an end. The first experiment, to rear the six-week-old Kariba flood victim, began last May when Rupert's human foster parents took him into their home near Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Shortly the second big experiment in the life of this 400-lb. black rhino begins when he is returned to his wild life in the Matopos National Park, near Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. Here, with the company of another Kariba survivor, the semi-grown female, Sal, it is hoped that Rupert will forget his days of domesticity. Only time will tell whether in fact he will forget the gallons of skimmed milk and bunches of bananas that quieted his hungry sequels or the sound of childish laughter when the fun-loving Rupert played with his foster brother and series." What devastating journalism. I like that this family treats him as one of their humans.