It’s hard not to get wrapped up in vintage photographs — even fairly mundane ones — which are given power simply by their age and which remind us that content and context is often the most intriguing aspects of an image, regardless of when or where they were made.
Head to “Shorpy” delve into the realms of considering what makes an image great or interesting both to you, as well as to learn a whole lot of interesting ideas and historic facts that have nothing to do with photography for photography’s sake. Shorpy is a refreshing reminder to photographers about what photography was originally conceived to accomplish — to capture history (then the present) in a manner that no other media ever had before.
For all is modern zest, photography was and remains a means o record. To share the present with precision. To evoke the past — even of only yesterday’s birthday party — with more power than was ever imaginable. (Although, sure, cave paintings and Renaissance statuary is pretty damn cool.)
At first Shorpy doesn’t seem to come at you with laser-tight focus (not a criticism) and is simply billed, rather broadly as Continue reading “The Engaging Vintage Photography of “Shorpy””