Tribute - John Gorman's vintage San Francisco

[Nancy123]

1001-1008 Market St.

Thank you! You guys are really good at finding these

 

[Nancy123]

Believe it or not, you used to be able to send Children via the US Mail.

What a great tidbit of history. Never heard of that before. And the link to Smithsonian Magazine has a lot of interesting articles, so thanks for that.

 

[Nancy123]

Yikes?

 

[Ben 4]

Yikes?

Nice use of telephoto compression? "Yikes" is a good title!

 

[mshchem]

I absolutely love these photos!!!!

 

[Nancy123]

Nice use of telephoto compression? "Yikes" is a good title!

Wish I had the data on it. And I just made up that title.

 

[Nancy123]

I absolutely love these photos!!!!

I'm glad! I think they are very share-worthy.

 

[Nancy123]

I love the sailors under the Navy Blues sign. This is 585 Market St., San Francisco, on July 1, 1945. And the women and girls are dressed up. You won't see torn jeans or yoga pants in these photographs!!!

 

[Don_ih]

yoga pants

aka paint

It's amazing how much neater the world looks in photos from the 1940's - like it's been getting cluttered ever since.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

It has...with humans and their stuff.

 

[Nancy123]

I would say this photographer had a no-frills studio, plus it's dwarfed by the apartment building. And that seems like a funny place for the Wonder Bread billboard; somewhere in 1940s San Francisco.

 

[koraks]

a no-frills studio

Yeah, for sure, although look at that characteristic bit of 1910s-20s architecture:

Awesome! Too bad it's most likely gone.

That house could be dropped into a Wes Anderson movie just like that.

 

[Nancy123]

Awesome! Too bad it's most likely gone.

It's likely gone but maybe not! I will try to find the negative that has the address. This was scanned from a print instead of the neg. I would love to see today's street for comparison, so I will hunt for it and report back!

 

[Ben 4]

Yeah, for sure, although look at that characteristic bit of 1910s-20s architecture:
View attachment 402202
Awesome! Too bad it's most likely gone.

That house could be dropped into a Wes Anderson movie just like that.

Me too — I love those columns. Art Deco?

 

[StanMac]

Most of my dad's thousands of prints and negatives have dates, locations, and titles, except this one. As I go through his archives, I find mystery photos now and then. I have no idea what the purpose of this photograph was but I love it. Wouldn't it be great if I could find the kid?

Was your father a published photographer? I googled his name as a photographer and got several Jon Gormans who are currently active photogs. The first two images in this post impress me as his work would have enough appeal for publication of his works.

stan

 

[Ben 4]

Was your father a published photographer? I googled his name as a photographer and got several Jon Gormans who are currently active photogs. The first two images in this post impress me as his work would have enough appeal for publication of his works.

stan

See post #33—he was a working PJ for the S.F. Examiner for forty years.

 

[Nancy123]

Was your father a published photographer? I googled his name as a photographer and got several Jon Gormans who are currently active photogs. The first two images in this post impress me as his work would have enough appeal for publication of his works.

Interesting to see another John Gorman photographer out there. (The rodeo guy is pretty good.) My dad lived from 1920-2005. He was not published in a book although I've seriously considered making one. Like Ben 4 said above, he was a press photog, details in post #33. For now, I'm enjoying posting some of his most interesting photos here to appreciative members.

 

[Nancy123]

The decisive moment. And very fast shutter speed.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Great peak action shot...almost like ballet!