Just plain pictures from history

[baleanoptera]

The city where I live in is doing a wonderful thing. It is taking all the old photographic archives and making them available on the net. All the old photos left to the city or somehow in the city's care is being made available - with names if possible.




Most of the photos are listed alphabetically based on surname, which means that you can follow a person from he is just a boy:

Johan Andersen 1858-1940 as a boy

Through his youth:


To when he is a grown man:


And to when he is old:


Or with his daughter Magda:

If you compare Magda with the first picture of Johan there is a certain resemblance, yes?

I'm not sure why I find looking a these pictures so touching, but I do. Both life affirming and touching.


A trio of sisters.


A Ms Becker getting ready to go hiking. I love her slightly strange pose, as if she isn't comfortable with the camera at all. I love the gloves, the painted background and the oddly placed bench.


A young soldier in the uniform of the Royal Guards. I'm slightly fascinated by his eyes


Quite a lot of people where photographed with their pets. I loved this one because the cat looks ready to bolt and the girl is holding him firmly in place. I also love their dresses

And I love how amidst all the studio portraits there are some with a more private and intimate feel. This is simply titled "Else Garman reading". And if you are wondering who Else is then take a look at the trio of sisters again

What I love about these photos is how the people look so normal. So everyday and average.Change the hair and the clothes, and these are people I could meet on the street on my way to work. Or people I am friends with, people I love. In short they are so very human - and I love that.

The archive of all the pictures can be found here at Bergen City Museum All photos are published with the permission of relatives or others.

Comments

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for these! Your posts are always so wonderful! It always strikes me that their faces appear to be so different to ours!!

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

*beams* Thank you! I just love old photographs.
I think the people appear different because of their strange poses - they are so much stiffer and formal than what we are used to. (This was actually connected to the process of taking a photograph. The exposure time was very long so the depicted person had to sit very still for quite some time). In addition they have these, to us, strange hairstyles and clothes.
But apart from that I'm struck by how similar they look.

Also - I wonder what the generations following us will think when they look at our photos. will we appear stiff and strange? Will our clothes look odd and our poses unnatural?

[koalathebear.livejournal.com]

This was a fascinating post, thank you for sharing.

I wonder what the generations following us will think when they look at our photos

I often wonder this myself. Certainly we do a lot of archiving and writing and description so perhaps it will be different from past eras but given how diverse we are, it seems odd to think that maybe archaeologists will pick up the photographs and remnants of one person's life and perhaps think it represents many persons :D

I love looking at old photographs and portraits but I always feel a bit eerie doing so because I know the person is no longer alve and it seems odd that all that remains is this image at which I'm staring.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Certainly we do a lot of archiving and writing and description so perhaps it will be different from past eras but given how diverse we are,


It might yes, but I suspect that the generations after us will face a different problem in that we leave such a large amount of information. So maybe sorting through it all will be a bigger problem than have to little info?

I love looking at old photographs and portraits but I always feel a bit eerie doing so because I know the person is no longer alive

I know this feeling. :) And yet, and I hope this doesn't sound too morbid, I hope when I am gone somebody will look at pictures of me and in that way I'll be remembered. Maybe this is just me, or maybe it's a common fear of being forgotten - I really don't know.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

What an amazing post. The photographs are astounding and I just love seeing old pictures and speculating about what lives they led. I echo Alexandral's thank you.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I love speculating about the people depicted as well. In this batch I was particularly fascinated by the trio of sisters and the last photo of Elsa reading. They just struck a nerve I guess.

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

And we'll never know what the cat was looking at so steadfastly.

Johan became more handsome as he aged. It's like flipping through my old family albums with pictures of people completely unknown to me and yet somehow connected to my grandmother or her mother. We have a similar online archive here and I spent an afternoon once searching for pictures of my neighbourhood as it was a hundred years ago and for pictures of the downtown as it was during wartime when my parents met and married. All of these pictures emphasise our common humanity.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

The cat really changes the image doesn't he? By looking so uncomfortable and stiff he ruins the illusion of casual posing that seems to be the goal of the rest of the photo. It's quite fascinating.

All of these pictures emphasise our common humanity.

Oh I like that phrase. Yes I think this is very true. And old photos somehow alters my view of history as well. Instead being distant and filled with names that doesn't really matter, photos makes history, in a way, more tangible. More real.

And yes Johan got better with age. ;)

[smaragdmeadows.livejournal.com]

man old pictures are the best! Those are super great.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

I love old photos! They have such atmosphere and style.Glad you liked. :)