60-year-old Leica negatives discovered

bruce terry · Dec 24, 2007

What to say. This is photography at it's best. Your dad's (and his copilot's) simple, honest images jump out from such a HUGE, HONORABLE moment in human history. Made my heart clutch.

In the process of drinking each and every slice of that awful, glorious time, I became more and more curious about the snap of your dad's copilot cutting up with the electronic specialist from alabama ... not the chinny-chin-chin business but about the deportment of the copilot's holster a locked-open, partially stowed .45 auto with the nose of a .50 cal (?) cartridge shoved in the ejection port???

Just a snap shot, but I'll bet the honorable veteran from Alabama has an interesting little story on what led up to that little, mundane moment 62 years back.

Nice work this thanks to your dad, his copilot and his electrical whiz and all who made it thru that old, momumental war (and the many, many who didn't), we freely celebrate Christmas, the Gods of our chosen faith, all that stuff.

Corny and gushy I know but really, I'm so moved by those wonderful, old photo graphs I just can't not say something.

Merry Christmas to All!

tbm · Dec 24, 2007

Re the electronics specialist, the day I mailed him five prints containing his image I also called him and spoke with him for about four minutes. I asked him, "What photographic matters did my father discuss with you?" He replied, "He spent so much time praising his Leica camera and lenses. It seemed that was all he wanted to talk about!" "Did you, therefore, not also own a Leica while you both were stationed in Italy?" "No, I had an Argus camera. I didn't buy a Leica until the war was over and I had returned to America. Once I used that Leica, I was able to see the validity of your father's praise and adoration."

Shelly Grimson · Dec 24, 2007

These pics show how the negative format has preserved history. I doubt if a tiny fraction of the digital amages now being taken will be able to be found by 2070.

Marc Akemann · Dec 24, 2007

Wow, fantastic stuff! Thanks for going through the effort of sharing that with us!

Marc

Confusion Circle · Dec 24, 2007

Wow. Amazing.

athanasius80 · Dec 24, 2007

Adding my accolades to the heap. Wow.

waynecrider · Dec 24, 2007

Very nice; I like the one of your Dad with the Graphic.

rpsawin · Dec 25, 2007

Amazing, wonderful, thank you for sharing.

Bob

removed account4 · Dec 25, 2007

thanks for sharing!

john

Trask · Dec 25, 2007

I really enjoyed the photographs themselves. From a technical standpoint, the tonality of the pictures seems similar to other pictures taken in that era (Werner Bischof, Chim, etc). Somehow I think those "old technology" films gave us something that modern films just don't. An emotional judgment, perhaps, but then photography is an emotional art!

tbm · Dec 25, 2007

Trask, you are correct about modern black and white films not giving us certain qualities and impacts that the old ones did. In darkrooms, books, and magazines, true deep blacks were scarce and I remember my father also struggling with it. So, like so many circumstances in life, there was a dichotomy: while photographers then had silver-rich emulsions, many did not have papers and chemicals that could display the films' true potential. Today, the dichotomy is that while we have excellent papers and chemicals, films do not have as much silver content and they thus create a much different look. That's not to say I am unhappy about that, though.

Confusion Circle · Dec 25, 2007

Does any current film compare to any of these older films?

mmcclellan · Jan 1, 2008

WOW! This is great stuff! Your Dad was a superb photographer!

If I may respectfully suggest, these images belong in a museum. Have you tried offering prints to the Library of Congress? Or to any of the military museums? He was Army, right? Why not offer a full set of prints and scans to several Army museums so your Dad's work will be preserved and appreciated for generations to come?

I have never seen a shot of Mussolini's corpse and the other stuff he had is very well-done. It's a real time capsule of what the Greatest Generation did in the War. There is publishable stuff here (book in the offing, maybe?) and certainly material of interest for a museum or library or other archive.

I hope you will take every possible step to ensure that the work of this excellent photographer reaches the widest possible audience. Thanks for sharing it with us!

tbm · Jan 1, 2008

Michael, my father was not in the U.S. Army; he was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. During WW II he flew planes in Europe, Africa, and South America which must have been an amazing experience considering he was only 25 years old at that time.

bdial · Jan 1, 2008

Actually, the U.S. Air Force didn't exist as a separate entity in WW II. At that time, it was the U.S. Army Air Corp. and was part of the Army.
The Air Force became a separate service in Oct 1945. http://www.afa.org/magazine/Sept1996/0996founding.asp

The Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, formerly the Douglas Air Museum, might have interest in the aircraft photos as well.

Indeed, thanks for sharing these!

Barry

Christopher Nisperos · Jan 1, 2008

Wow! What a legacy. Congratulations on your find .. an a posthumous congratulations to your late father for his great eye.

Best,

Christopher

40oz · Jan 1, 2008

nice. Your father was a great photographer.

KenR · Jan 1, 2008

WWII photos

My father also returned from WWII with albums full of photos that he and others took during the war (he was stationed on the base photo lab). All photos and negs are in pristine condition despite the years. How many digital photos and digital files will survive 60 years of benign neglect for ones heirs to see? A lot fewer than most people appreciate, so I'm sticking to film while its still available.

fschifano · Jan 1, 2008

Confusion Circle said:
Does any current film compare to any of these older films?

I think so. I think you'll find that Plus-X, Tri-X, and Ilford's FP4+ can still deliver a very similar look.

To the OP, great stuff you've found there. My dad was in the Pacific during the war, and my uncles served in Europe. Sadly, none were photographers and there is no legacy of their war experiences. Truth be told, none of them ever discussed the war in my presence and all are gone now.

I still see some old WWII flyers now and then right nearby at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. There is a historic aircraft museum of sorts, Hangar B, tucked away at the back of the field and it's open to the public three days a week. As I write this, there is a C-54 used during the Berlin Airlift in residence for the winter while it undergoes its annual maintenance. Come spring time, she'll be off on another round of air shows for the summer.

niimo · Jan 5, 2008

Wow those were some excellent photos! One of my uncles was a photographer in Vietnam, I've heard some stories, but maybe he'll allow me to share some of his photos one day. Thanks for sharing these!

Ara Ghajanian · Jan 17, 2008

Shelly Grimson said:
These pics show how the negative format has preserved history. I doubt if a tiny fraction of the digital amages now being taken will be able to be found by 2070.

I have DVD's from a few years ago with files I cannot open never mind what's going to happen to those files in 2070. Luckily, they were all scans from negatives.

These images are incredible and they print so nice. I'm already in love with film, but you've given me more hope as to the future of the media. Thanks.
Ara

mark · Jan 17, 2008

I printed a ton of WWII images, from Bill Belknap when working for a special collection darkroom at a University. I LOVED the tonality.

This was one of my favorite
http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/i...8&control_num=2538&type=Image&criteria=berlin

Your father's images reminded me of these. There were a joy to print, even in the assembly line printing I did many of them in. Your father was quite the photog.

ehparis · Jan 24, 2008

Fascinating photos. Thank you for sharing!!

Metroman · Jan 25, 2008

What a find and wonderful images. The Mussolini photo is quite relevant as there were two stories this week about him:

1. Mussolini's sports car for sale

2. BBC World Service covered this on Tuesday

Cor · Jan 25, 2008

On the Mussolini pictures: might it be possible that your father has bought these pictures, since you mention that you only have prints and no negatives?

Just a wild guess, but I can imagine that such prints were sold during these days, as kind of "souvenir"...(but than one would expect more copies of this print around..)

But I my be totally wrong here off course..

Best & thanks for sharing these very interesting images!

Cor

Metroman said:
What a find and wonderful images. The Mussolini photo is quite relevant as there were two stories this week about him:

1. Mussolini's sports car for sale

2. BBC World Service covered this on Tuesday

60-year-old Leica negatives discovered

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