I'm already nostalgic for NYC in the aughts or whatever.... I say keep shooting and the layers of nostalgia for today will only accumulate with time - however, I think nostalgia for photographs taken in the pre-phone camera era will be the greatest simply because there will be less photographs to look at and fawn over. Love that smooch with the subway blazing past.
Thanks, Diana. I feel the same way, even with some of my own photographs from just 10 years ago. Part of it is because they remind me of an enjoyable time in my life, but I also notice details in them that already anchor them to that specific period.
Is there a time and a place? Everywhere, and it changes by the minute. I just saw Fragile Beauty - the Elton John and David Furnish photography collection at the V & A - and as you walk around you are inspired by many of the best and wish you were there, even if to serve drinks. Great post and I love the Joe Strummer/son shot.
A thought-provoking post... I was always a bit of a Francophile through my youth and thinking street photography in Paris in the early 60s ... I do love New York in the 70s too. It's all nostalgia. To your point though, I wonder how much my attraction to those styles influence how I shoot today? Thanks!
Do you know Ed van der Elsken's book Love on the Left Bank? It's kind of a weird one, told like a fictional story almost(?), but it's beautiful and really made me want to be in Paris in the 60's.
New York in the 70's... those photos are pretty cool. Whether it's for nostalgia or just interest in what the place used to look like, I think it is pointless to ignore that. Of course you can try to evaluate an image strictly on its compositional merit, but that's rather... academic. I mean, if you were a museum curator looking for the absolute best images of a certain time period, then sure, use your most critical eye, but for the rest of us, just enjoy what you see.
I gotta say I would also have done anything to photograph that era in New York..I visited in 77 but as i was only 7 photography wasn't really on my mind..which was mostly filled with star wars which i saw when there. I was there again in 85 and was old enough to appreciate what an amazing vibe it had but still wasn't documenting at that age, well nothing beyond a few snapshots on an agfa instamatic....
I would hasten to say that I think pretty much all photography improves with age..the distance brings clarity and new perspectives and the golden hue of nostalgia makes it glow thru rose tinted eyes.
Funnily enough I would also go back to the late 70s, early 80s but to my own neighbourhood here in west london and watch the birth of punk/new wave. The Clash are local heroes here...still see Mick Jones around here a lot. Such a lovely bloke.
p.s never seen that shot of Debbie and Chris, that's a belter
I'm already nostalgic for NYC in the aughts or whatever.... I say keep shooting and the layers of nostalgia for today will only accumulate with time - however, I think nostalgia for photographs taken in the pre-phone camera era will be the greatest simply because there will be less photographs to look at and fawn over. Love that smooch with the subway blazing past.
Thanks, Diana. I feel the same way, even with some of my own photographs from just 10 years ago. Part of it is because they remind me of an enjoyable time in my life, but I also notice details in them that already anchor them to that specific period.
Is there a time and a place? Everywhere, and it changes by the minute. I just saw Fragile Beauty - the Elton John and David Furnish photography collection at the V & A - and as you walk around you are inspired by many of the best and wish you were there, even if to serve drinks. Great post and I love the Joe Strummer/son shot.
Thanks Simon!
A thought-provoking post... I was always a bit of a Francophile through my youth and thinking street photography in Paris in the early 60s ... I do love New York in the 70s too. It's all nostalgia. To your point though, I wonder how much my attraction to those styles influence how I shoot today? Thanks!
Thank you Juliette!
Do you know Ed van der Elsken's book Love on the Left Bank? It's kind of a weird one, told like a fictional story almost(?), but it's beautiful and really made me want to be in Paris in the 60's.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2011/feb/10/love-on-left-bank-in-pictures
New York in the 70's... those photos are pretty cool. Whether it's for nostalgia or just interest in what the place used to look like, I think it is pointless to ignore that. Of course you can try to evaluate an image strictly on its compositional merit, but that's rather... academic. I mean, if you were a museum curator looking for the absolute best images of a certain time period, then sure, use your most critical eye, but for the rest of us, just enjoy what you see.
All true, it's just sometimes I find myself enjoying what is almost certainly a bad photograph, but I'm not mad about.
I gotta say I would also have done anything to photograph that era in New York..I visited in 77 but as i was only 7 photography wasn't really on my mind..which was mostly filled with star wars which i saw when there. I was there again in 85 and was old enough to appreciate what an amazing vibe it had but still wasn't documenting at that age, well nothing beyond a few snapshots on an agfa instamatic....
I would hasten to say that I think pretty much all photography improves with age..the distance brings clarity and new perspectives and the golden hue of nostalgia makes it glow thru rose tinted eyes.
Funnily enough I would also go back to the late 70s, early 80s but to my own neighbourhood here in west london and watch the birth of punk/new wave. The Clash are local heroes here...still see Mick Jones around here a lot. Such a lovely bloke.
p.s never seen that shot of Debbie and Chris, that's a belter
Thanks Babycakes! Can I call you Babycakes? Do people call you Babycakes? I hope so.
I definitely have some rose-tinted eyes. Next time you see Mick, please tell him hello from me.
I will for sure..and yes they do and yes you can..cheers!