We were promised jet packs

"Rocketman," Rhinebeck, New York 2009, by Photographer Rodney Smith (who died last year). The jetpack is homemade.

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Photo of the day: Hell is real

We do not know the provenance of photographer.  If this is you, let us know!  /Eds.

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Arnold Genthe's 1925 photograph of a Teodor Benda mask

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Photograph: paratroopers over Moscow (ca. 1940's) by Yakov Rumkin

They remind me of jellyfish. . . /jack

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Photo: The Execution

By Jack Brummet, Photo Ed.

This one seems staged.  Or else the victim is one tough cookie.  From rarehistoricalphotos.com:

"Some say it’s a real situation some say it’s a staged photo. It’s most likely was a staged event due to the various discrepancies in the photo. This does not look like an actual execution. They are too close to the wall to shoot without ricocheting and they’re not aiming or shouldering their guns in such a way that would indicate a readiness to fire. The guy on the far right is looking in a strange direction. And the officer is looking directly into the camera. Two of the guys in the back rank appear to be unfamiliar with their Mauser 98′s. If he fires it, the guy on the right is going to hurt himself."

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Elena Shumilova's amazing photographs of her kids, farm, and animals

By Jack Brummet, Photography Ed.

Sweet photographs by Elena Shumilova of her kids and farm/domestic animals. Amazing colors, environments, kids, critters, and weather. Good stuff.  Check them out here, on Bored Panda. 

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The First Selfie?

By Jack Brummet, Photo Ed.


The Oxford Dictionaries recently announced their word of the year for 2013 is “selfie”, which they define as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.” 

The picture considered by many to be the first photographic portrait ever taken was a “selfie”. The image was taken in 1839 by an amateur chemist and photography enthusiast named Robert Cornelius. Cornelius set his camera up at the back of the family store in Philadelphia and took the image by removing the lens cap and then running into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens again. 

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Eleven photos of Curt Cobain

[Sent in by readers, found on the internet and selected by Mona Goldwater]

on the organ, Aberdeen, Wash.

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The U.S.S. Franklin training ship (which looks like a two story apartment building)

By Jack Brummet, History Ed.


From 1916, a photograph of the U.S.S. Franklin, used as a training ship. From a 5'x7" glass negative held by the Library of Congress.

This image comes from the Harris & Ewing Collection of photographic negatives of people, events, and architecture, during the period 1905-1945. Harris & Ewing, Inc., gave its collection of negatives to the Library in 1955.

click to enlarge

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Heinrich Hoffman's stunning photos of The Fuhrer that Hitler ordered destroyed

By Jack Brummet, World War II Ed.

This strange set of photos show Hitler posing for photographer Heinrich Hoffmann while listening to a recording of his own speeches. Adolph Hitler wanted to see what he would look like to the German people as he delivered his thunderous speeches.  

After seeing the photographs, Hitler ordered Hoffmann to destroy the negatives.  Hoffman instead tucked them away, where they were discovered by the Allies after the war.  

Egon Hanfstaengl, the son of Hitler's foreign press officer, said in a documentary, Fatal Attraction Of Hitler: "He had that ability which is needed to make people stop thinking critically and just emote."

These photographs are considered to be in the public domain in the US due to their status as seized Nazi property (otherwise their copyrights would not yet have expired).

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A sweet photo of Leo Tolstoy with his grand kids (1909)

By Jack Brummet, ATIT head image archivist 

The site on which I originally found this photo had a caption about Tolstoy telling the kids a story.  In the course of clearing the photo (for copyright issues), I discovered it's a public domain image from TinEye, Wikipedia Commons, and other sources.  The photographer is unknown.

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The photos of Alexey Titarenko

By Jack Brummet

I have really been enjoying the Russian photographer Alexey Titarenko's work. Check it out: http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/

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Photograph: At The Museum

Photograph by Liang Liu,
Digital Enhancements, Jack Brummet

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"Back To The Future": Irena Werning's photos go backwards and forwards

Irena Werning's great photo project, Back To The Future--shots of people taken 20-50 years apart, wearing the same clothes, and expressions. . .fascinating. and a little creepy. 

"With my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future."   Check it out here.

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