Photograph: three Dutch woman photographed at Ellis island, 1910.
Now consider this, what did ordinary people know about posing for a photograph back then? Yes, we know how to do it, we’ve been to endless portraits, but back in 1910? Just stepping down from a ship in a foreign land?
“OK, we will try this again, but now don’t laugh. And don’t smile. And don’t show your teeth…”
Maybe it’s time to go back watching live Noon Time Variety tv shows to watch real people or buy a vinyl player in-order to listen with human music. We are now in a new era of deception.
I have watched that movie a good dozen times. Still pick out something that I had not seen before or realize that there was more to the scene then I had first realized.
Photograph: Sándor Kereki for Le Journal, Budapest, 1975.
My uncle (oldest brother) suggested to my father to introduce me to letters, the alphabet and words before starting to school, just in case I could “get it”. Thus by 4 I already was familiar with the alphabet and by 5 I could read on my own, soaking myself with whatever I could get in my hands. Writing though… that was a different story and to this day I’m an awful handwriter; I can write well and painfully slow -then grow impatient and rush it- or at a sightly slower than average speed with an outcome I can read about 60% of the time. So I mostly write in block capitals which are readable 80% of the time, and my numbers can be read almost 99% of the time, although my boss keeps complaining about my unusual “8” (but they can’t be mistaken for anything else).
