Kip Praslowicz » Anonymous Photographs

Dead Deer, Dead Fish, And An Iron Lung

K. Praslowicz — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:53:35 +0000

Time again for my beloved random showing of anonymous photographs by unknown photographers.

Dead Deer

The first photograph is off a silver gelatin print that I recently added to my permanent collection.

Being of American Northwoods decent, photographs of a hunter holding up the head of their latest kill is nothing out of the ordinary. What caught me about this one though is how the photographer appears to be sneaking in on someone else's photograph. Image quality screams large format, and the lighting appears to be with a flash. Just like I'd do in this situation.

Dead Fish

I don't actually own any of the original materials from this image. It came from a 4x5 negative given to me to print by fellow photographer Nate Lindstrom. I had to give the negative back, but now I have a nice digital file to make plenty of bootleg copies with.

The side of the car reads as follows:

City of South St. Paul. Municipal Equip. 67-40.

View the close up.

An Iron Lung

Another silver gelatin print recently added to my collection. This one shows what appears to be an outdoors demonstration of an Iron Lung.

The box in front of the iron lung reads as follows:

J.J Emerson Co. Resuscitators and Iron Lungs. Cambridge, MASS. U.S.A.

View close up

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Dead Deer, Dead Fish, And An Iron Lung is a post from: K. Praslowicz, Photographer

Anonymous Photographs: Three More From My Collection

K. Praslowicz — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 19:55:37 +0000

I recently came across some anonymous photos that I'd purchased several years ago that have since been buried away in folders and boxes.

First up, this old-timey car getting lifted out of an icy body of water.

The other two I wish I had more information about them. Much like the sinking battleship image I own, there appears to be a fair amount of historical significance within these two images.

The first depicts what appears to be soldiers loading up on a transport ship. World War 2 would be my guess given the fashion and design shape of the vehicle in the background.

The second shows a very excited crowd gathering around some military men in a jeep. The design of the flags and style of the buildings in the background make me think this is somewhere in France. Again, I wish the print had some sort of marking on the back to indicate the date & event.

Any history buffs out there who look at any of these images and have any details jump out at them. Anything that might help fill the story in a bit more?

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Anonymous Photographs: Three More From My Collection is a post from: K. Praslowicz, Photographer

Found Photograph Found Again

K. Praslowicz — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:07:15 +0000

Back in December 2009 I wrote a post sharing a few recent anonymous photographs I had recently purchased. One of the photos in that set was this one of a woman looking at a swan.

This past weekend I received the following comment from Freddie Rios about the photograph.

Hello, I know this was posted 2 years ago, but I justed wanted to tell you that the photo titled "A woman inspects a swan" from your collection is located in Glendale, CA not far from my home in Los Angeles. It is located at a memorial park called Forest Lawn Memorial Park. It is part of a chain of cemeteries around southern California that is privately owned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Lawn_Memorial_Park_(Glendale)
If you enter these coordinates into Google maps "34.125443,-118.253134," then use the street view option, you should be able to see the fountain depicted in your found photo.
I worked at the Hollywood hills location from around 2002-2005, and the cemeteries have been part of my life growing up, family, and friends being interred there. I hope you enjoyed this tidbit as I have enjoyed what you share with us. Thanks.

Awesome. This is why I love the Internet.

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Found Photograph Found Again is a post from: K. Praslowicz, Photographer

Catalina Swimsuits For Nudists In Sweden

K. Praslowicz — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:32:41 +0000

Of all the anonymous photos I have in my collection, Catalina Swimsuits for Nudists in Sweden is my favorite. Usually when I purchase an anonymous photograph I just get the print and nothing more. With this this particular image I actually got the original 4x5 inch negative. The negative also came with the photographer's note card giving me some straightforward extra information about the scene.

3-9 1946. AA DC-3 Catalina Swimsuits For Nudists in Sweden

Simple enough—The scene happened on March 9th, 1946 in front of an American Airlines DC-3.

Shipment was going to Axel Gillblad & CO.A.B in Göteborg Sweden.

But then what? Who is this man in the suit? Is Axel Gilblad a fake company name and the whole scene a facade to pull a prank on the man in the suit? Look at their faces. The woman is having a blast, but the man in the suit has the look of someone who doesn't know how to laugh yet knows that he is in a situation where he should be laughing. Since he isn't good at laughing, a strange smirk and a stiff pose is all he can muster.

The man in the hatch is definitely in on the whole thing.

The whole thing remains enigmatic to me. That is cool though. Half the fun of anonymous photographs is making up stories to go along with them.

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Catalina Swimsuits For Nudists In Sweden is a post from: K. Praslowicz, Photographer

The Four Newest Vernacular Photographs in My Collection

K. Praslowicz — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:27:01 +0000

I've added four new images to my ever growing collection of anonymous/vernacular photography after a successful hunt today. Enjoy.

Family sawing event?

A sinking battleship

A woman inspects a swan

The location of this photo has been identified. Read more about it in my post Found Photograph Found Again

A woman enters a car

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The Four Newest Vernacular Photographs in My Collection is a post from: K. Praslowicz, Photographer

From the Anonymous Collection: Fire and a Boat

K. Praslowicz — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:01:05 +0000

I'm feeling a bit of writer's block this morning, so I'm just going to shorten things up and share a couple of images from my anonymous collection.

The burning building photograph is the one that kicked off this hobby for me. I never had any thoughts about collecting non-fine-art photographs until this print was in my hands back in 2003. I even put it back and almost didn't purchase it. I remember almost leaving the store when I had an overwhelming feeling that I was making a mistake by not purchasing it, so I raced back to the box of prints it was in and made the purchase.

Whenever I start thumbing through a stack of photographic prints at an estate sale, or antique store, I think somewhere in my subconscious, I am secretly hunting for photographs that I wish I had taken myself. I also end up imagining a scene in the far future where someone is flipping through a stack of prints that I created. A few of those prints strike the right chords and they end up taking them home. Not because of a famous name attached to image, but just because they love the image. A sad, romanticized, zero-gratification aspect of my own photographer which I'll almost certainly not be aware of if I succeed with it. Yet, I'm cool with that.

I'm going to embed an interesting conversation with Robert Flynn Johnson that I found via citysnaps.net on the topic of anonymous photography. Robert Flynn Johnson is the author of Anonymous: Enigmatic Images from Unknown Photographers, a photo book about collecting vernacular photography.

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From the Anonymous Collection: Fire and a Boat is a post from: K. Praslowicz, Photographer

I don't purchase fine art photography

K. Praslowicz — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:11:36 +0000

Some people may be into purchasing limited edition, framed and signed prints by photographic artists. I'm not one of those people. I like to purchase works by people who's names I will never know.

My method of purchasing photography is as follows.

Find an estate sale, or antique store.
Search for surreal, enigmatic or photos of very interesting events made by anonymous photographers.
Spend fifteen minutes mulling over if it they are worth $2 each to add to my collection.

When I really think about it, the type of photos I like to purchase are very much like the type of photos I like to make. Typical looking people, strange scenarios, plenty of objects that will only make the image more dated and unique interesting as time goes by and their design change. There is no need to know who the people are, or why they are doing whatever they are doing. Creating stories around them is half the fun.

The hobby of hunting for masterpieces of vernacular photography is almost just as unexpected and fun as doing street photography itself. I never know when or where they'll turn up. Finding images that have that special something that makes me want to purchase it is a nice treat between all the photographs of stiff formal portraits, photos people standing like tourists in front of whatever, and bad landscapes. The excitement of collecting vernacular photos is only better when a single, one of a kind piece may set you back four dollars. Beats the thousands of dollars established, or upcoming artists may try to charge for something similar.

I bring this subject up because today I found a few photos that I decided where good enough to purchase and add to my collection. I thought I'd go ahead and share them with you.

Normally photos of people posing in front of random objects don't make my cut, and I don't purchase them. This one was different though. There was something about the woman's big glasses, ragged appearance, and appearing to be drunkenly supporting herself on a man who appears very rigid and nicely dressed next to an Indian statue that put it over the edge for me. I also really like the composition. Filling the half the frame with blank white space just works for me.

I also have a bunch of other anonymous photographs in my collection. I think in time I'll scan some more of them and share them with you. If you like this sort of thing, I highly recommend getting the book Anonymous: Enigmatic Images from Unknown Photographers. It is one of my favorite photo books I have in my collection.

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I don't purchase fine art photography is a post from: K. Praslowicz, Photographer