A matter of perspective…
From Darren Rouse’s Digital Photography School, a 90-year-old example of forced perspective photography:
The picture is of 18,000 men preparing for war in a training camp at Camp Dodge, in Iowa.
A few facts about the image:
* Length from base to Shoulder: 150 feet
* Right Arm: 340 feet
* Length of Torch and flame: 1000 feet
* Total Length: 1490 Feet
* Number of men in body and head of figure: 2,000
* Number of men in right arm: 1,200
* Number of men in torch: 2,800
* Number of men in the flame only: 12,000
* Total men: 18,000
(Thanks SC for the pointer)
As we adjust our focal lengths, we might pause to slip a celebratory tickle to Elmo– it was on this date in 1969 that Sesame Street first aired…
The Perels of Pirecy…
For other examples of DVD cover art veritably proclaiming its illegality, visit Crappy Bootleg DVD covers on Flickr.
As we reconsider those bargains, we might search extra hard for an authentic copy of Ninotchka, as it was on this date in 1939 that Greta Garbo’s beautiful Bolshevik made her debut.
The Riddle of the Sands…
With thanks to reader MK for the lead, a look at the Sand Sculpture at Harrison Hot Springs. For 19 years, proprietors Karen and Bob Bell hosted the World Championships of Sand Sculpture. For reasons obscure, there was no competition last year; still, the accomplishments of the 157 artists who worked there are nifty to behold. Consider, e.g., this piece by Carl Jara:
or this one, by Brett Terry:
More at the Harrisand gallery.
As we brush off our feet, we might recall that on this date in 1519, Hernán Cortés entered Tenochtitlán (roughly where Mexico City stands today). Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomed him with great ceremony, as might befit a returning god… little did the Aztec chief know…
Criss-crossed with canals, laced with aqueducts and markets, and set beside a grand lake, with floating gardens, Tenochtitlán was “the Venice of the New World”… or, rather, Venice was the mini-Tenochtitlán of Europe– the Mexican city was much larger and grander than that Italian town.
Indeed, according to early Spanish accounts, Tenochtitlán was unlike the European cities they knew, but more like the ones they had seen in romantic books, as it was neither crowded nor dirty. Indeed, Tenochtitlán was larger, more beautiful and more complex than any European city at the time. The population of the lake city was 200,000 – 300,000, at a time when London’s numbered about 40,000 and only 65,000 people lived in Paris. Tenochtitlán’s craftsmen (for instance, its extraordinary goldsmiths) were a match for those in Europe, and the grandeur of the city’s pyramids rivalled that of the Egyptian “wonders of the world.”
Who you callin’ a Queen???…
Under the general heading of “too weird for words,” from Crikey Not Likely, BoHeMan Rhapsody:
As we re-gather our wits, we might stop to remember that celebrated span, The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, beloved of high school physics students around the world for its demonstration of the power of resonant waves; it collapsed on this date in 1940.
Snapped shots…
A collection of… well, strange old photos, from the remarkable Black and WTF. Consider, for example:
or…
or…
More– much more– at Black and WTF.
As we revisit our family albums, we might recall that it was on this date in 1860 that Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the office. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and, famously, Northern Democrat and Illinois senator Stephen Douglas.
Matthew Brady’s 1864 photo of Lincoln reading to his son Tad
