The Big Foto » Oldies

Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:33:44 +0000

A short film about letterpress and one of the few remaining movable-type printing workshops in the UK, situated at Plymouth University, featuring Paul Collier.
A film by Danny Cooke dannycooke.co.uk
Soundtrack by Tony Higgins tonyhiggins.org

Cats of War

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:45:27 +0000

A collection of army pets.

Bathing machines

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:30:05 +0000

The bathing machine was a device, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, to allow people to change out of their usual clothes, possibly change into swimwear and then wade in the ocean at beaches. Bathing machines were roofed and walled wooden carts rolled into the sea. Some had solid wooden walls; others had canvas walls over a wooden frame.
The bathing machine was part of sea-bathing etiquette more rigorously enforced upon women than men but to be observed by both sexes among those who wished to be “proper”.
Especially in Britain, men and women were usually segregated, so nobody of the opposite sex might catch sight of them in their bathing suits, which were not considered proper clothing to be seen in.

Once mixed gender bathing became socially acceptable, the days of the bathing machine were numbered.

Photocroms of Holland from 1890s to 1900s

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:30:26 +0000

Like postcards, the photochroms feature subjects that appeal to travelers, including landscapes, architecture, street scenes, and daily life and culture. The prints were sold as souvenirs and often collected in albums or framed for display.

After travelling to Belgium, Norway, Scotland and Turkey we arrive today to Holland and its canals. Amsterdam has been called the “Venice of the North” for its more than one hundred kilometres of canals, about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges.

First flight, 120 feet in 12 seconds, 1903 Dec. 17, 10:35 a.m.

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:10:15 +0000

Photograph shows the first powered, controlled, sustained flight. Orville Wright at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright running alongside to balance the machine, has just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing. The starting rail, the wing-rest, a coil box, and other items needed for flight preparation are visible behind the machine. (Orville Wright preset the camera and had John T. Daniels squeeze the rubber bulb, tripping the shutter.)

Photochroms of Turkey from 1890s to 1900s

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:08:08 +0000

After travelling to Belgium, Norway and Scotland we arrive today to Turkey. These photos refer to Constantinople because they were taken before the city was renamed in 1930.

Constantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe’s largest and wealthiest city.

It was officially renamed to its modern Turkish name Istanbul in 1930 with the Turkish Postal Service Law, as part of Atatürk’s national reforms. This name in turn derives from the Greek and Slavic colloquial name Stambol.

[Wikipedia]

Music by Ben Woods. Play > About to Fall

Best fotos of 2009

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:48:51 +0000

Space, history, nature, people, animals, … I hope you have enjoyed them.

Note. Credits in this post link to orginal posts of this blog. Photo credits are placed on the landing pages.

Physics’ world in the XIX century

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:12:56 +0000

In this post we are going to see several old machines lithographies of another book of the second half of XIX century brought to us by El Bibliomata.

I don’t know anything about most of them but they seem very curious.

For example, I have found a lithography of the first machine that was able of recording sounds visually, called phonautograph. The problem of the machine was that it is not able of playing back recorded sounds. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/arts/27soun.html?_r=1.

I have post the phonautograph in first place. If you know something about these items please share it in comments, thank you.

The conquest of Mexico

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:28:45 +0000

Let’s promote this week the contribution of El Bibliomata, a flickr user that shares illustrations and photographs of the collection from the Library of the Faculty of Law and Labor, University of Seville.

While we create real digital content a good start is to digitalised old works. The start, some old litographies of the conquest of Mexico.

Cliches about cats

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:20:43 +0000

Cats are an important part of Internet nowdays. But they always have played an important role on photography as you can see in these old photos.