PRODUCTS ON PARADE: Beauty queens adorn a float in a 1963 Wisconsin parade.
50 years from now, I wonder what will happen to the billions of images we create weekly with our smartphones and then post on Twitter & Instagram. Will they all just disappear when our hard drives crash? In the past, when negatives and prints were made by the millions, many were lost and thrown away but as physical things, they got saved too. Vivian Maier was a nanny that also took amazing photos that no one ever saw and after her death, when her images were unearthed, she’s now considered one of the best photographers of the 20th century.
Matthew Salacuse is successful photographer and when not shooting his own jobs, he spends his hours editing through thousands anonymous vintage negatives and slides that have been lost or abandoned over the years. He’s edited the best of the best to offer as editioned prints on his site The Negative Collection. He’s got a great eye and every one of these are rare gems. Here are a few of my faves around the theme of cars and travel. The prints start at $65 and would make GREAT gifts. Btw, anyone shopping for me, I LOVE the black and white hamburger shot.
SUMMER JAM: These guys are at the Watkins Glen concert in 1973. It was bigger than Woodstock
POSTWAR DENMARK: This is a rare color slide from the late 40’s or very early 50’s
DAD’S WAGON: Before the age of child safety seats and bicycle helmets, there was the 1960’s.
EARLY 60S: Rare glimpse at a rodeo clown on his way to work
BRANDO INSPIRED: Motorcycle enthusiasts race their bikes in the desert ala The Wild Bunch
JULY 1963: A stewardess in a stylish Mad Men style dress inspects a large model plane in the waiting room.
FIFTH AVENUE, MID-60S: Two women in their Sunday bonnets possibly on their way to St. Patrick’s Cathedral
JULY ’59: Bing Crosby leads the Calgary Stampede
EARLY 60s: Neighborhood kids ready themselves for an old fashioned, downhill soap box race.
DRIVE-IN DINING: This man eating a burger is a favorite, so mundane American yet mysterious.
OUT WEST IN THE 50s: A steam engine puffs across the plains at sunset.
PREY FOR US: Kenya Lion Nairobi Game Park. Look closely, the first car has 3 nuns in it.
(Photos, unknown; via Feature Shoot)
