Ken MacLeod's comments.
The title comes from two quotes:
“Work as if you lived in the early days of a better nation.”—Alasdair Gray.
“If these are the early days of a better nation, there must be hope, and a hope of peace is as good as any, and far better than a hollow hoarding greed or the dry lies of an aweless god.”—Graydon Saunders
A friend in the British SF world sent me those photos less then one hour ago. I was impressed by their precision and detail. I was moved by their conveyed sense of list or at best long postponed possibilities. Thanks Ken.
That was my response as well. I felt as though I were looking at slightly grainy still images from a period film. Then when I reminded myself that these were real shots of real people, some of whom might still be alive, but much older, I felt like some sort of transtemporal voyeur or something. Beautiful set of images, but very strange feelings that they evoke.
Those are impressive photos, a very graphic reminder of how much has changed in the last several decades. The Washington Post has a slideshow of some more pictures from the exhibit focusing on the DC area. (warning--starts with a commercial.)
You also might be interested in The Empire That Was Russia, recreations of color photos of Russia a hundred years ago.
Glad to see I'm not the only one slightly spooked, as well as delighted at seeing the past in color. You know, at times one finds it hard to imagine old times in anything but sepia...
Wow, these photos are AMAZING! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteA friend in the British SF world sent me those photos less then one hour ago. I was impressed by their precision and detail. I was moved by their conveyed sense of list or at best long postponed possibilities. Thanks Ken.
ReplyDeleteOne is so used to seeing those days through B&W that they feel kind of strange, slightly unreal, like oddly placed reenactors...
ReplyDeleteAntiAlias -
ReplyDeleteThat was my response as well. I felt as though I were looking at slightly grainy still images from a period film. Then when I reminded myself that these were real shots of real people, some of whom might still be alive, but much older, I felt like some sort of transtemporal voyeur or something. Beautiful set of images, but very strange feelings that they evoke.
Those are impressive photos, a very graphic reminder of how much has changed in the last several decades. The Washington Post has a slideshow of some more pictures from the exhibit focusing on the DC area. (warning--starts with a commercial.)
ReplyDeleteYou also might be interested in The Empire That Was Russia, recreations of color photos of Russia a hundred years ago.
Wonderful Photos Ken. I was quite struck by the 'Rosie the Riveter' style photo in particular.
ReplyDeleteJamesPadraicR - Second the recommendation of the colour images from Imperial Russia! I think I first saw them via a link on Making Light.
ReplyDelete- ilorien
ReplyDeleteGlad to see I'm not the only one slightly spooked, as well as delighted at seeing the past in color. You know, at times one finds it hard to imagine old times in anything but sepia...
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