Vintage | MONOVISIONS - Black & White Photography Magazine

Vintage: Portraits by Ruth Harriet Louise (1920s)

28 April 2020 0

Ruth Harriet Louise (1903 – 1940) was an American professional photographer, the first woman photographer active in Hollywood; she ran Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s portrait studio from 1925 to 1930. Louise began working as a portrait photographer in 1922, working out of a…

Vintage: Three Eyed Cats by Weegee

20 April 2020 0

Arthur Fellig, known by his pseudonym Weegee was a photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white photography. The three eyed cat meaning relates to the symbolism of the mythical creature that appears in many ancient spiritual texts.…

Vintage: New York by Andreas Feininger (1940s)

15 April 2020 0

In advance of World War II, in 1939, Andreas Feininger immigrated to the U.S. where he established himself as a freelance photographer. In 1943 he joined the staff of Life magazine, an association that lasted until 1962. Feininger became famous…

Vintage: Young Winston Churchill (1884-1904)

28 December 2019 0

Churchill was born at the family’s ancestral home, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, on 30 November 1874, at which time the United Kingdom was the dominant world power. Direct descendants of the Dukes of Marlborough, his family were among the highest…

Vintage: The Forth Bridge Construction (1890s)

22 December 2019 0

Construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay, the future Edward VII. The bridge spans the Forth between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry and has…

Vinatge: Portraits by Will Burgdorf (1920s)

18 December 2019 0

Will Burgdorf (1905 – 1944) was a German photographer. Went to Dresden at the beginning of the 1920s, where he completed his training in the studio of Bruno Wiehr, back to his hometown in the late 1920s still a teenager.…

Vinatge: Portraits of Gloria Grahame (1940s-1950s)

14 December 2019 0

Gloria Grahame (1923 – 1981), known professionally as Gloria Grahame, was an American stage, film, and television actress and singer. She began her acting career in theatre and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role…

Vintage: El Helicoide Construction (1950s)

8 December 2019 0

El Helicoide is built on a hill in Roca Tarpeya between the parishes of San Pedro and San Agustín, in the extension of the avenues Armed Forces, President Medina Angarita, and Nueva Granada. It has the shape of a three-sided…

Vintage: Portraits of Dolores Costello – Silent Movie Star

4 December 2019 0

Dolores Costello (1903 – 1979) was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She had a younger sister, Helene, and the two made their first film appearances in the years 1909–1915 as…

Vintage: Portraits of James Cagney

30 November 2019 0

James Cagney (1899 – 1986) was an American actor and dancer, both on stage and in film. Known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing, he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety…

Vintage: Fiat Rooftop Test Track in Turin (1920s)

26 November 2019 0

The Lingotto building in Turin, Italy, once housed a Fiat factory. Construction started in 1916 and the building opened in 1923. The design (by young architect Matté Trucco) was unusual in that it had five floors, with raw materials going…

Vintage: New York’s original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (1903)

18 November 2019 0

The original Waldorf-Astoria was among America’s first big hotels. When it was built during the Victorian era, and for years thereafter, it was considered the finest hotel in the world — and it soon became the most famous, for its…

Vintage: America by Jack Delano (1940s)

12 November 2019 0

After graduating from the PAFA, Delano proposed a photographic project to the Federal Art Project: a study of mining conditions in the Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania anthracite coal area. Delano sent sample pictures to Roy Stryker and applied for a job…

Vintage: Shropshire Shop Fronts by Joseph Lewis della-Porta (1888)

8 November 2019 0

Joseph (Lewis) Della Porta was from a family of shopkeepers. His father, also called Joseph, was an immigrant from Northern Italy. He settled in Shrewsbury in about 1848 and established a small shop on Princess Street. The business prospered and…

Vintage: Portraits of Pola Negri – Silent Movie Star

4 November 2019 0

Pola Negri (1897 – 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles. Raised in the Congress Kingdom of…

Vintage: Hollywood actress Ella Raines (1940s)

30 October 2019 0

Ella Raines (1920 – 1988) was an American film and television actress. Ella Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in a play there when she was seen by director Howard Hawks. She became the first…

Vintage: Alaska (1896 – 1899)

18 October 2019 0

Various scenes in Alaska in such areas as Devil’s Lake, Skagway, Miles Canon, Chilcoot Pass, Lake Bennet, and Sitka by an unidentified amateur, taken between 1896 and 1899, and held by the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

Vintage: Marlon Brando as Mark Antony in ‘Julius Caesar’ (1953)

14 October 2019 0

Marlon Brando’s casting was met with some skepticism when it was announced, as he had acquired the nickname of “The Mumbler” following his performance in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz even considered Paul Scofield for the…

Vintage: Portraits of Vilma Bánky – Silent Movie Star

4 October 2019 0

Vilma Bánky (1901 – 1991) was a Hungarian-born American silent film actress, although the early part of her acting career began in Budapest. Her first film appearance was in the now lost film, Im Letzten Augenblick (In the last moment),…

Vintage: Portraits of Vietnamese People by Émile Gsell (1880s)

22 September 2019 0

Émile Gsell was born in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, France on 31 December 1838. He served in the military from 1858 to 1866, during which time he learned photography and travelled to Cochin China (now Southern Vietnam). In Cochin China, Gsell was…