Say Cheese
We love this set of photographs from 1890, of a couple giggling between frames – mainly because of how rare it is to see ‘outtakes’ of historical photographs. Unlike today where advances in technology allow for tens of photos to be snapped in mere seconds (most of which are later deleted,), in the Victorian era and the dawn of portrait photography, each photo taken was precious. Not only are these photos incredibly rare, but just as rare is the Victorian portrait where someone is smiling at the camera!
In 1890 when this couple was captured, the camera itself took an exceptionally long time – sometimes as long as fifteen minutes, and holding a smile for that long would definitely be physically challenging! So instead, somber or unsmiling portraits were the mainstay of the day.
Living Testaments
In 1944, Walter and Werner were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps during World War II, where over 1.1 million men, women, and children lost their lives. Auschwitz was the only camp to tattoo Jewish prisoners as they arrived. Incredibly, Walter and Werner arrived on the same day and were tattooed just ten numbers apart: A1828 and A1838, but despite being in the camp at the same time, they had never met until this reunion, seventy years later.
The third man in this truly incredible photo is also a Holocaust survivor who was sent to Auschwitz, and was brought together with Werner and Walter by the Last Eye Witness Project which is dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories of Holocaust survivors.
Iranian Women Protest Against The Hijab Law
Iran has had a history of forcing various laws on women that call Iran home. Though this photo is of a protest in Tehran in 1979, things haven’t changed very much. Even to this day, in 2022, the same demonstrations are happening around the country. However, Iran wasn’t always like this. There was a time when it was a modern world, and women could go to college, work, and not wear a hijab if they chose not to.
Though considering the same protests are happening over forty years later, all the Iranian citizens can do is hope and pray for things to change eventually.
Fantastic Voyage
The beautiful thing about this casual but stunning photo of David Bowie and Iman, is that it reflects one of the rarest things in the world of celebrity and fame: authenticity. The musician and model kept their relationship and marriage extremely private. “I fell in love with David Jones,” Iman told The Guardian newspaper in 2014, “I did not fall in love with David Bowie. Bowie is just a persona.”.
Bowie and Iman were set up on a blind date by his hairstylist, back in the 1990s! They married just two years later, going on to have a 26-year relationship until Bowie’s untimely death in 2016.
First Woman to the Moon
Margaret Hamilton, featured in this rare historical photo from 1969, is the software engineer that history forgot to make into a household name, like Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin. Hamilton led the NASA software team that landed the Apollo astronauts on the moon. She was a ‘software engineer’ before anybody even knew of the term, and in the photo featured, is standing next to what is believed to be the code or program listings for the successful Apollo space mission.
“She was a pioneer when it came to development of software engineering and…a pioneer as a woman in the workplace contributing to this type of program, taking on this type of role.” – said Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony, the curator of the Project Apollo collection at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
The Italian Way
Sophia Loren, award-winning Italian actress of the 1950s-1970s, is as famous for her talent as her curves. Loren was hailed as an “Italian Marilyn Monroe” when she burst onto the Hollywood scene in 1957, famous for her quote “I’d rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0”. Her beauty and her famous silhouette may have overshadowed her talent, but her long career is a testament to her dedication to her career.
Sophia Loren won an academy award for Best Actress for her role in ‘Two Women’ and went on to win countless awards and nominations during her career, including no less than five Golden Globes.
Bernie and Birmingham
Snapped here at a protest in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, Bernie Sanders would go on to become a US senator and eventually run for the office of President of the United States. In this rarely seen photo a young Sanders is hauled off by policemen for taking part in a nonviolent protest; which began in Birmingham in the early 1960s backed by Dr. Martin Luther King, when the city was still largely racially divided.
Through marches, boycotts, sit-ins and the involvement of the international media, Dr. King and the nonviolent direct action campaign eventually forced desegregation in Birmingham.