Thinks happen: Thinking about things

The found photographs posted here are seldom restored at all. They are usually presented just as they appear. Occasionally however a bit of enhancement reveals important details. Increasing contrast usually does the trick. The creases and tears and other damage are left alone to help in the visualization of the photograph’s journey to our time. When any enhancement is done, usually the original scan is posted beside it for comparison. Although a photograph’s memory is much longer than ours, even it begins to fade over time.

This is probably my oldest double exposure.

As difficult and expensive as it was back then to produce a photograph print, you would think that the negative of an accidental double exposure would just be discarded. This one was printed and mounted.

Why is that? Is there something hidden in these photographs that was worth saving? Was the photographer just having a good time?

The guy on the far right seems to be carrying a sack of something on his shoulder. It appeared at first he might be a third exposure because he seems on a different plane than the other people and dog. But I think the rest of them are standing on a raised porch or walkway and he is standing on the ground or in the street.

The people in the close shot seem to be in a “business as usual” sort of pose.

I thought at first perhaps the building in the background of the close shot might be the building in the distance of the long shot. But probably not.

The sign on the near building does say “??nney” or “?awney” “General Merchandise.” The long shot seems to be of a short silo or crib beside a grain elevator. There is a sign on the elevator too but it is not legible

This set of portraits of Bonnie Parker was composed originally for a demonstration and is stuck back in an unimportant background Flickr set used for addendum to other featured photographs.

But it is certainly oddly very popular. It has been visited at this date, more than 6,000 times from Google, Yahoo, Flickr and other searches. But congratulations! Only two people on Flickr have spotted the fact that the upper left picture is actually Bonnie Parker’s sister.

Many, many years ago I saw a traveling exhibit of the bullet riddled car. There was always some controversy in whether it was really THAT car or not.

Today it is hard to put perspective on the whole story, especially the details at the end. Ten years after, when I was a seven year old Kansas lad, the legend was already quite alive. The names Bonnie and Clyde were household words for rebellion and disobedience. The criminal part was already beginning to step into the background.

Now, with the help of much publicity and characterizations by such as Faye Dunaway, Bonnie seems iconic for feminism, rebellion, individuality and anti-establishment as well as some other things probably.

It’s her birthday today.