In my little corner of Paris, on a vibrant boulevard of the 20th arrondissement, something curious and out of place has been drawing my attention ever since I first went put-putting past it on my mobylette years ago. I suppose I’ve always been a tad reluctant to go and unveil the mystery; more content to remain ambiguous about…
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They were devised by Hollywood set designers, assembled like stage props and “inhabited” by actors, but entertainment was far from the agenda. Photographed taking a sunny stroll down a seemingly suburban avenue called Synthetic Street, these ladies are actually on the rooftop of the B17 Bomber factory in Seattle Washington in 1941, camouflaged by nearly 26 acres of suburban American…
There are some things that just make me tick. I can’t exactly explain why; what first catches my eye, but it seems we have quite a few of these things in common, you and I. I’d like to share with you this very short and simple clip from a 1950s French film that for some reason…
1. Triplets get a Haircut, 1956 The Dees triplets, Megan, Christina and Katha, photographed in 1956 by Nina Leen for LIFE magazine. And here they are all grown up, modelling in the 1960s… 2. A Multi-Story VW Bus This multi-storey VW minibus comes from Berger Stadel Walsh of Basel, found on Boing Boing 3. Battery, Baghdad,…
On the longest street in Paris, at the edge of the Luxembourg Gardens, sits a unique little bookshop that’s often overlooked. While the famous Shakespeare & Co is chock-full with tourists everyday, outside Le Pont Traversé at 62 Rue de Vaugirard, the lone passerby is occasionally browsing the bookstand at leisure. So I thought I’d…
When the Beatles arrived in Japan in June of 1966, they caused as much pandemonium when they did when they triggered Beatlemania in the United States in 1964. A total of 8,400 policemen were mobilized for security at a cost of 90 million yen and more than 6,500 Japanese teenagers were taken into custody. They had been…
Under the black jagged valley of Western Mexico, was once an indigenous village that called this place their local church. Seemingly rising from the ashes itself, the church of San Juan Parangaricutiro is the only part of the village that was not swallowed by a near decade-long volcanic eruption. (c) Juan Rolando Like something out of…
1. The Last Brownstone “Construction in NYC, 1959, land being cleared for 20 story building in East 60s- still occupied brownstone is soon to go.” Changing New York photographed by Dmitri Kessel. 2. Flat Manhattan, 1883 The 1883 engraving by Captain Willard Glazier comes from his book “Peculiarities of American Cities“, found on Socks Studio.…
“Gypsy” conjures up all kinds of stereotypical images of a wandering foreign community that live in caravans and vardos on the outskirts of cities. But today I fished a rare photo story out of the LIFE archives that gives us a fascinating glimpse into their lesser-known heritage. Shot by Dmitri Kessel in 1949, we’re taken inside a mid-century…
The owner of Katz Orange (orange cat in German), was inspired by a trip he took to Peru where he met a spiritual priest who owned an orange cat. Upon entering the beautiful brasserie, you can imagine him sitting in this shaman’s mountain hut with an orange cat, surrounded by indigenous artifacts and kilim tapestries passed down from…
