# I just keep staring at this photograph...



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

There's not much going on in it actually, but I'm mesmerized. It's from *1846*! It's a street in Paris. And, supposedly, there's actually a ton of street traffic that doesn't show in the image because of the long duration of the exposure. Some consider it the earliest photo of a human. There's a man in the lower left corner getting his shoes shined.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

I can see why you're entranced. It looks like a ghost town with all the traffic missing. A very well-used ghost town. Thanks for sharing!


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## traceya (Apr 26, 2010)

Great photo Monique.  I adore old photos and have two that are both very special to me, one if of my mum getting a ride in a little wagon thing being pulled by her older brother - I think they were 2 and 4 at the time.  The other is of my great grandfather who was a circus owner and lion-tamer and shows him in front of the  circus he built.  It's like a little piece of history.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Stop! You're giving me ideas for another book, and I already have a backlog to write ... 

Very nice image, btw. Really sets the synapses snapping.


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

What an amazing and inspiring image!  Thanks for sharing!


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Thank you for this gem, Monique. I collect scans of old photographs. I have a folder on my computer where I save them, ordered by date. My oldest until now was from *1856*, of a street here in Toronto. This has now become my oldest. Thanks again!

Here's one I like from my collection, showing Winnipeg in *1887*:


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## Christine Merrill (Aug 19, 2010)

And now you've got me doing it.

There is something about the contrast of black and white photos that drags the eye into them.  They always seem three dimensional to me.  And the artificial emptiness of these, along with their age is eerie.


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## Linda S. Prather Author (Jun 25, 2010)

Love old photos.  Daniel, you should set up an old photo thread and we can all look and see what we can find.



Linda


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

I love those old photos. I stare at them and try to put myself inside of them. I wonder what is inside those store fronts. You see those people frozen in an instant of time so long ago on the sidewalks, and you wonder where they were walking to and what were they thinking. What did they think of the future?


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

That's cool.  I like to think about what it would be like to stand on that street, and see the green trees, the bright blue sky, and the colors of the buildings.  Feel the breeze on my skin, and the pavement beneath my feet.

And the man standing there, not knowing that a century and a half later, people would be staring back in time at him.

And Jules Verne was 18 at the time.  Wonder what he was doing as this photo was taken?

Just cool all around.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Makes you want to build a time machine and check it out.


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

Nice, thank you. Yes, it is like a ghost town, but it draws you in. I wonder if this was the earliest photo ever taken. Winnipeg in 1887 is pretty interesting, too.


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## Joyce DeBacco (Apr 24, 2010)

I love old photos too. It's a bit like a time machine in that you can insert yourself in the picture and imagine how life was in those days. I have a very old family photo taken in 1873 showing my grandfather, great-grandparents, and great-great grandparents. Fascinating.

And on TV a few weeks ago, I saw a film clip taken from the front of a trolley going down a main street in San Francisco before the earthquake leveled everything. It was estimated to be around 1905 or 6. People and old vehicles were darting all over with no direction, in front of the trolley, criss-crossing to the other side of the road. Some noticed the camera and stared at it, others just went about their business unmindful of it. It was a rare glimpse into the past. The short film ended where the trolley turned around on the tracks. 

Joyce


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## Tam (Jan 7, 2010)

I remember an old photo that was in my parents' bedroom when I was a child - it was a LONG photo of our church's Sunday School, a group shot of about 100 people, which included my dad in the front row with all the kids, and my grandparents . I'd say it was from around 1930. The thing that was so fascinatig to me was that there was the same gray-bearded man standing both on the far left of the front row and the far right of the front row. My grandmother explained to us that those pictures took such a long time to "take" that the photographer was able to pose on one side for awhile, then run behind to the other side and stand for awhile. I couldn['t even imagine the children especially being able to hold a pose long enough not to look blurred in the final photograph - but everyone, including the photographer, was pretty sharp and clear. 

I wish I knew whatever happened to that photograph. I'm sure it was sold when my mother moved from the house to an apartment when we were all fresh out of college. I would love to have it now!


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## Barbiedull (Jul 13, 2010)

Says it's from the 1840's (A botanical garden in Sheffield UK)

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s02030

Found it from the end of a thread here: http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=6583


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Ooh, I love old photos. It's a lot of fun to sit and stare, trying to imagine what it must have been like to have been there


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Whenever I see old photos of people's faces, I try to imagine what they would look like in modern hair styles and clothes.

They just all seem so grim though.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

I'm knew I wouldn't be alone in this! Aren't old photographs mesmerizing? Love. Them.

My kingdom for a time travel machine!



Joyce DeBacco said:


> And on TV a few weeks ago, I saw a film clip taken from the front of a trolley going down a main street in San Francisco before the earthquake leveled everything. It was estimated to be around 1905 or 6. People and old vehicles were darting all over with no direction, in front of the trolley, criss-crossing to the other side of the road. Some noticed the camera and stared at it, others just went about their business unmindful of it. It was a rare glimpse into the past. The short film ended where the trolley turned around on the tracks.
> 
> Joyce


I'm working on the sequel to my book and it takes place in 1906 San Francisco, so I've been looking at a lot of old photos and watching that bit of film over and over. For anyone interested, here's the short version. There's a longer 15 min. or so version up too.








swolf said:


> Whenever I see old photos of people's faces, I try to imagine what they would look like in modern hair styles and clothes.
> 
> They just all seem so grim though.


They do look grim and I never put 2 and 2 together until now (I'm slow). I'm sure they were more serious than we are today, but I think the duration of the exposure had a lot to do with it too. It's hard to maintain a smile and easier to just look as you naturally do.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

Check out this link: http://www.neatorama.com/2006/08/29/the-wonderful-world-of-early-photography/.

It has some timeline history on early photography.


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## Barbiedull (Jul 13, 2010)

sherylb said:


> Check out this link: http://www.neatorama.com/2006/08/29/the-wonderful-world-of-early-photography/.
> 
> It has some timeline history on early photography.


 Thanks for the link...very interesting.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Oh, that's very cool, sherylb. Some of the early photos are so creepy and fascinating! That photomontage is amazing!


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Monique said:


> They do look grim and I never put 2 and 2 together until now (I'm slow). I'm sure they were more serious than we are today, but I think the duration of the exposure had a lot to do with it too. It's hard to maintain a smile and easier to just look as you naturally do.


That's an excellent point. Also probably why they're always just standing around.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

Monique said:


> Oh, that's very cool, sherylb. Some of the early photos are so creepy and fascinating! That photomontage is amazing!


I love the concealed and gun cameras. Who knew?
I love the internet!


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

One reason they look grim is because smiling, especially smiling for photographs, is a modern thing.  People just did not know to smile, it has no connotations with happiness or being bright and cheerful, in fact, I think they considered showing too much emotion to be a weakness.  The length of time it took to take a picture definitely also had something to do with it, but even in "candid" shots from the time you won't see much of anyone smiling.  Cameras were new technology and serious business so a photo session was also a serious event.  You also have to remember what dental care was like back then.  I imagine most would be embarrassed at the thought of their teeth being seen forever on a photograph in that condition.


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

What a beautifully haunting photo.  It almost looks like it was painted or penciled.  I love it!  Thanks for sharing.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

What a wonderfully evocative photograph in the OP!

I love old photographs, too, and am lucky enough to have inherited quite a few. I've found them quite inspiring at times.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Fascinating.


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## cc84 (Aug 6, 2010)

Wowza's. Like others have said, i love old photo's. I have trouble though picturing the time in colour, i just see everyone seeing black and white which is strange lol. I also wonder about the people in them, who they are, who their families are, where they are going.

How did people cope all them years ago without the stuff we have today?! If you went back in time and tried to explain to these people about Kindle's or the internet or mobile phones i'm sure they'd treat you like you were insane  

In my local supermarket they have old pictures of our area from the early 1900's and they are fascinating. I drive on those roads that used to have horse and carts on them. It's hard to picture it like that now but i love it. The world before we even existed.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

That's an awesome photo Monique.  Where did you find it?

Dawn


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## DLs Niece (Apr 12, 2010)

Christine Merrill said:


> And now you've got me doing it.
> 
> There is something about the contrast of black and white photos that drags the eye into them. They always seem three dimensional to me. And the artificial emptiness of these, along with their age is eerie.


I could not have said this better myself. That is exactly how I feel. Great pictures!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Dawn McCullough White said:


> That's an awesome photo Monique. Where did you find it?
> 
> Dawn


I read  this story and followed the links to  this blog.

Really neat stuff!


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Above is an 1851 panoramic photo series of San Francisco. It is reportedly take from Rincon Hill, but I don't know San Francisco so that means nothing to me. Notice the incredible jam of sailing ships in the harbor (this was the peak of the Gold Rush) and Alcatraz Island at the join of the second and third plates.

You can get a better (larger) view of the photo by going to the original website and clicking on the image a couple of times, but you'll probably have to scroll the image across your monitor.


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## Barbiedull (Jul 13, 2010)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Above is an 1851 panoramic photo series of San Francisco. It is reportedly take from Rincon Hill, but I don't know San Francisco so that means nothing to me. Notice the incredible jam of sailing ships in the harbor (this was the peak of the Gold Rush) and Alcatraz Island at the join of the second and third plates.


Thanks for posting this. I used to live in that area, and have taken the boat ride to Alcatraz...but it looked a little different then. Amazing all the activity taking place then, but as you said it was during the Gold Rush.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

All those ships in one place! Amazing.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Very cool, photo! 

Imagine the boom. I've seen population quotes for SF that go something like this...

1849 (January) - Under 1,000
1849 (December) - 25,000
1900 - 350,000+


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Monique said:


>


that's a fascinating clip. Since watching it, I've been over at You Tube watching old clips instead of editing. lol


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## Kindle_Matt (Jun 30, 2010)

It would be neat to see this same location in Google Earth now.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

I love looking at 'then and now' photographs.  It's cool to think about it going from 'then' to 'now' day by day, not perceptably changing each day, but those imperceptable changes adding up to the large difference.

Same thing with 'young and old' photos of people.  Has anyone ever taken a photo of someone every day for years and years, and then turned it into a film?


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## Barbiedull (Jul 13, 2010)

You can go to http://maps.google.com/
and use the satellite view of Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, CA
you can scroll around the map with your mouse.
(You can zoom in on the modern harbors, etc.)


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Some of you know I'm a fan of Loony Tunes cartoons. One Bugs Bunny cartoon was set in San Francisco in Gold Rush days, and included this scene, that surely came from viewing the panorama photo above.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Monique said:


> Very cool, photo!
> 
> Imagine the boom. I've seen population quotes for SF that go something like this...
> 
> ...


Oklahoma City and Guthrie were founded at the opening of the Land Run of 1889. At 11:59 AM both did not exist.by Midnight that evening, both had populations of over 10,000!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Oklahoma City and Guthrie were founded at the opening of the Land Run of 1889. At 11:59 AM both did not exist.by Midnight that evening, both had populations of over 10,000!


Wow!


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

This is a great thread. When my Grandmother passed away, my mom found a ton of old photo's, some from the late 1800's. She's going to get them all scanned and put onto a disk so all of us "kids" can have the history of our family in photo form. There are some amazing pictures. No one ever smiled back then. Everything seemed so stoic. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of them one day.


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

J.M. Pierce said:


> This is a great thread. When my Grandmother passed away, my mom found a ton of old photo's, some from the late 1800's. She's going to get them all scanned and put onto a disk so all of us "kids" can have the history of our family in photo form. There are some amazing pictures. No one ever smiled back then. Everything seemed so stoic. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of them one day.


That would be such a lovely gift! My husband's great-aunt did that for all the family, and made a DVD for everyone. She keeps sending one to everyone for Christmas with new pictures. We have three so far.  It has a mixture of old and new pictures. My two oldest children were on the last DVD and they were tickled pink.

My husband's family is from Ireland, so we got to see a lot of the old Irish country-side that their family grew up in. My kids really love seeing the old pictures, and it's really neat to compare who my kids (and other family members) look like. I also love that it teaches my kids where their ancestors came from. It's just as good as having a full blown family tree.

I hope you get yours soon J. M.  It's a great family keepsake!


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## Maria Romana (Jun 7, 2010)

swolf said:


> I love looking at 'then and now' photographs. It's cool to think about it going from 'then' to 'now' day by day, not perceptably changing each day, but those imperceptable changes adding up to the large difference.


Me, too. I like to see the old photos and pick out the buildings or churches or even trees that are still standing today. I really get a kick out of that--I guess it's as close to time-travel as I'll ever get.

--Maria


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

J.M. Pierce said:


> This is a great thread. When my Grandmother passed away, my mom found a ton of old photo's, some from the late 1800's. She's going to get them all scanned and put onto a disk so all of us "kids" can have the history of our family in photo form. There are some amazing pictures. No one ever smiled back then. Everything seemed so stoic. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of them one day.


And now, what do our grandchildren have to look forward to?

"Hey, look what I found in Grandma's old trunk - a jump drive!"


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but those who enjoyed it may also enjoy a new iPad app that is on sale today. The app is called Panoramic Views USA, and the name is boringly accurate and descriptive--It is a collection of aerial view illustrations of cities from the late 19th Century.

You can pinch and zoom on the illustrations and get quite a bit of detail. This is hand-drawn illustration, not a photograph. There are aerial views of about twenty US cities in the app. There are screen shots on the iTunes listing.

The app is on sale for 99 cents, supposedly it will go up to $3.99 tomorrow, so if you want the app, get it today! Unfortunately my understanding is that this app only works if you have an iPad.

And here is the link to the iTunes store.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/panoramic-city-views-usa/id426386908?mt=8


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Keep 'em coming, I love these old photos.


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

What fantastic old photos.  I love old images of towns and cities and have used them in my research of Victorian England to get the "feel" for time.  It's fun to compare the old to the new if you have a personal connection to the place.


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

What a wonderful thread !!

Thanks all for sharing your links and images.

Walter


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

Something so enchanting about these photos. Makes me want to go back in time.


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

This picture really takes us back in history. Thanks for sharing.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Wow, that's awesome! I love these super old pics.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

I too love old photographs - thank you all for sharing!
Here is one of my favorite links, the "galleries" are listed on the right hand side, half way down the page.
http://www.shorpy.com/

And one of my favorite books that I find utterly mesmerizing:
http://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Edwardian-Fashion-Photographic-Survey/dp/0486242056


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## Josh_Stallings (Mar 18, 2011)

As others have said, it is hauntingly beautiful, it is world I feel I could fall into.  Thank you for posting it.


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## JJayKamp (Mar 11, 2011)

Yes, thanks to all for posting these wonderful pics.  I thought the picture of Fox Talbot was the first, so this was a neat "find" for me.  There is nothing I'd like more than to go back in time - I would sign up in a heartbeat, even if it were dangerous.  I wouldn't want to come back - just think of how quiet it was back then!


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## Philip Chen (Aug 8, 2010)

Beautiful photograph.  There has got to be a noir novel in there somewhere.


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## Val2 (Mar 9, 2011)

I think that's a GREAT picture!


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## susie (Mar 4, 2011)

http://www.rogerhallett.com/

It looks a bit like my town. (scroll over the picture and it goes round...not too fast or you'll get dizzy!)


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

Wow, those are great old pictures, especially the Paris and Winnipeg ones.

I do this too when I see a picture like that, especially ones with a lot of people.  I zero in on one person, and imagine what his or her life is like.  After that picture he may have had a meeting with the boss, take his daughter to the doctor, work on his book, or whatever.  Then I realize that he or she is probably gone now.  Kind of makes me feel small.

Did I depress you yet?

Balloons for everybody!!!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

anguabell said:


> I too love old photographs - thank you all for sharing!
> Here is one of my favorite links, the "galleries" are listed on the right hand side, half way down the page.
> http://www.shorpy.com/
> 
> ...


I have that book! Fascinating, isn't it?

Thanks for the heads-up re: the iPad app. I've got a friend to download it and I'll play with it later.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Monique said:


> Thanks for the heads-up re: the iPad app. I've got a friend to download it and I'll play with it later.


Glad someone noticed that! LOL

This web page has some great photos and stories about one of the Oklahoma Land Runs:

http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/into-oklahoma-at-last.html


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Read this in Jack Finney's Time and Again, and it made me think of this thread.



> Because I've always felt a wonder at old photographs not easy to explain. Maybe I don't need to explain; maybe you'll recognize what I mean. I mean the sense of wonder, staring at the strange clothes and vanished backgrounds, at knowing that what you're seeing was once real. That light really did reflect into a lens from these lost faces and objects. That these people were really there once, smiling into a camera. You could have walked into the scene then, touched those people, and spoken to them. You could actually have gone into that strange outmoded old building and seen what now you never can - what was just inside the door.
> 
> Because the good ones, the really clear sharp photographs, are so real; Insert a view, slide it into focus, and the old scene leaps out at you, astonishingly three-dimensional. And then, for me, the awe becomes intense. Because now you really see the arrested moment, so actual it seems that if you watch intently, the life caught here must continue. That the raised horse's hoof so startlingly distinct in the foreground must move down to the solidness of the pavement below it again; those carriage wheels revolve, the girls walk closer, the man moves on out of the scene. The feeling that the tantalizing reality of the vanished moment might somehow be seized - that if you watch long enough you might detect that first nearly imperceptible movement.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Glad someone noticed that! LOL
> 
> This web page has some great photos and stories about one of the Oklahoma Land Runs:
> 
> http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/into-oklahoma-at-last.html


Very cool. So crowded! I love these photographs.

Here's one that doesn't have the same personal feel, but is very cool for different reasons.

http://www.ronhenggeler.com/History/Muybridge/panorama.html

*Warning: It takes a bit to load completely.


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