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your Library of Congress faves: for the LOC Commons Anniversary
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Over at the Indicommons blog, we're going to be marking the first anniversary of the Library of Congress and Flickr's Commons initiative, which launched January 16. (We'll be marking other institutions' Commons anniversaries as well over time.)
To celebrate the Library of Congress's Commons collections, we'd like to see your favorite photo from the Library of Congress's photostream.
So head over to The Library of Congress, pick out your favorite photo, and tell us something about why you chose it. We'll feature some of this group's favorites on the blog next week.
Originally posted at 8:26AM, 10 January 2009 PDT
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Lú_ edited this topic 41 months ago.
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This is mine (I went looking now for a different photograph that I remembered, found this, and don't think I could love one more!):
"Mrs. Bill Stagg with state quilt that she made, Pie Town, New Mexico."
Lee, Russell,, 1903-, photographer.
1940 Oct.
There's a naiveté to this photograph -- shot in harsh sunlight, so that the subject has to squint, which means we can't see her pride except in how fully she's displayed her quilt. Mostly I love how much love the camera gives the quilt she's laboured over, filling the frame with it. It's really "A State Quilt, with Mrs. Stagg who made it." There are art photographers today who would shoot a photo like this one shot for documentary purposes.
(oh also! My mother-in-law would love this too, for the quilt -- probably part of what drew me to the photo.)
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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Lú_ edited this topic 41 months ago.
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The first one I marked as a favorite is still way up there for me; and I seem to be the only one to "fave" it! It's swimmer Martha Lachman, and her hearty smile and comfortable stance just make me happy to see...
I also love all the photos of suffrage demonstrators and parades, so much that I was inspired by the Commons images to create my own suffragette costume for Halloween 2008:
(IIRC, the text on the sign was copied directly from a LOC image in the Commons.)
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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pennylrichardsca edited this topic 41 months ago.
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pennylrichardsca - I agree, the shot of Martha Lachman really is a great photo and i can see why you love it.
I think I will selects this:
The Voisin brothers, French aviation pioneers. Gabriel Voisin (1880-1973), on the left, and Charles Voisin (1882-1912), on the right
I like the photo a lot.
The two brothers look very similar, and have identical noses, and a similar penchant for mustaches. It also strikes me that Gabriel's slight turn of the head has a peculiarly french flair, while Charles (on the right) looks perhaps more solid and grounded.
I also love the detail in their clothes, around the collars, the buttons and the stitching on the sleeves.
As with many of the photos from the Bains collection, I love the drawing pins and edges and the (in this case wrong) notations identifying the subjects. It reminds me these were 'working' photos.
I also think it's a great example of one of the best aspects of the Commons.
whyaduck (a flickr user) not only corrected the wrongly-identified subjects (Bain mixed up the brothers' names), but also dug up information about the photographer.
from the notes added by the LOC:
Notes:
Current title devised by Library staff based on information provided by the source: Flickr Commons project and confirmed at www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/voisin.html
Original title, "Voisin Brothers, Charles" misidentifed Gabriel as Charles in the unverified data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards.
That's very cool stuff.
Posted 41 months ago.
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I was interested to see a few images from the miners strike of 1910, in Wales. I grew up in Wales, and remember the miners strike of the 1980's. My father was a steelworker, (steelworkers also came out on strike during the 1980's) and it brings back a number of powerful personal memories, as well as significant (to me) thoughts of my cultural heritage. It is something that I would like to explore a little further in relations to 'The Commons' in due course, but that's another story...
"British Coal strike - Llwynpia, So. Wales. A Colliery Village. (LOC)" by library_of_congress [?]
I did undertake a little bit of low-level background research on this one, which I've shared in the comments thread under the image...
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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Trapac edited this topic 41 months ago.
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I just adore the Library of Congress.
I was having a hard time choosing my favorite then I saw this one from Pie Town, New Mexico taken by Russell Lee. This image took my breath away. It is both excellent documentary and an excellent example of what a good photographer can do. I have a professional and personal concern with agriculture but I love this one purely for what it does photographically.
Posted 41 months ago.
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I like this photo, and I love the story in comments.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Hard to choose just one shot from the LOC!
So, here are my two faves:
Crowd in front of Convention Hall, Baltimore, Md.
This is the 1912 Democratic National Convention, where the Democratic party nominated it's US Presidential candidate. They chose Woodrow Wilson, who became the US President some months later who ushered in the concept of liberal internationalism.
It struck me how little has changed in some regards to the US elections -- I was a delegate 4 years ago to the DNC in Boston. While we did not wear straw hats or truly battle it out on the convention floor, we mostly did mill about like these good people are doing in the photo above. Hurry up and wait to get inside the building to partake in our election ritual.
The other photo I really like is this one:
- Unloading sugar beets from railroad cars, Loveland, Colorado
I love my state. Colorado is home to some of the grandest scenery in the US, but, little known, it's also got a lot of flat plains and agriculture. Here, you see a lot -- a lot-- of sugar beets. I think the title is incorrect and that these beets are being loaded, not unloaded, but regardless, we've got crops here! And railroads. Colorado is a part of the story of the growth of the US, and this photo somehow speaks to me about that role we played in the early part of the 20th Century.
I also must confess that I'm a sucker for B&W images, and think these are both well done specimens.
Posted 41 months ago.
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There's so many great photos on the LOC stream it's hard to say which is my favorite. I'd have to say this one, cause these are the coolest hats ever!
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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zyrcster (a group admin) edited this topic 41 months ago.
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Whoa. I've got to remember to show this one to my kids after school!
Posted 41 months ago.
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captainslack I replaced your pick (wow -- it's so cool!) with a clickable one so that people can visit the photo page. We also prefer to only post the small sizes.
To easily post a photo to a thread, just insert the photo page's url (the page with the comments on it) inside of square brackets:
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2449480148/]
Thanks!
Posted 41 months ago.
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I've found it hard to whittle down my favourite photos from the LOC (I have so many!) but I really like this photo.
It's so relaxed and cheerful.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Hard to believe, but here we are on the threshold of the 2nd LOC Commons anniversary. We've posted a new set today: We're highlighting a few examples of the terrific connections, memories and resarch shared by Flickr members with LOC images. Enjoy.
Michelle
Posted 29 months ago.
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![[The Voisin brothers, French aviation pioneers. Gabriel Voisin (1880-1973), on the left, and Charles Voisin (1882-1912), on the right] (LOC) by The Library of Congress](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3106/2422672969_b4254fe2f3_m.jpg)
![[Unloading sugar beets from railroad cars, Loveland, Colorado] (LOC) by The Library of Congress](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2063/2163914346_13ed7087d6_m.jpg)
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