depression-era style photoshoot

[herringbonekid]

by Carl Bengtsson

 

[Lena_Horne]

Here are some more:

L_H

 

[jake_fink]

Oh dear.

First it was heroin-chic and now it's okie-chic.

Fashion is so great.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Here are some more:

L_H

They all look like they gots the measels! Yikes! And eat a hamburger! :hamburger Anyhow, that's still interesting as hell, thanks for sharing.
DR

 

[airfrogusmc]

Looks allot like some of the photos by Walker Evans. You can clearly see his influence in these photos. 1930s everyone was pretty thin. Not much food around in those days.

 

[Harry Lime]

Some of those are so dead-on they fooled me (the women in particualr look quite authentic.) The guys are a give-away, but even a couple of them pass the test. Interesting photo.

Harry Lime

 

[shamus]

What are those for? It's a nice look. Half of them look casted right. The guy with the flames tatoo really doesn't fit.

Again... what is this for?

 

[herringbonekid]

its just a fashion editorial for some glossy magazine.
the clothes will all be new and probably designer. i.e super expensive.

 

[John in Covina]

Finding ones metal, meddle, medal - oh darn.

It re-enforces the ideas that:
1) everything was in black & white back then!
2) no one smiled during the depression!

It reminded me of the photo essays that the feds did to record the times.
B&W film with correct lighting can evoke a mood better than color film.

These don't seem to be ordinary siver nitrate prints are these paladium or another metal?
METTLE?
Sincerely,

 

[Lauren]

I think they're beautiful.

 

[Doctor Strange]

They strike me as obviously bogus and pretentiously self-important. Most of these models look nothing like real Depression era folk and a lot of the clothes don't seem real. And the almost-certainly digital sepia effect and studiedly "ugly" background are wrong.

Maybe this could fool some people, but it's very superficial, and shows none of the poginant reality that you see in Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, etc.

 

[Wild Root]

I'm not so sure...

Two of the girls and maybe two of the guys look spot on! Here is an original photo of an imagrent mother in the early 30's.

Now, the ones I feel are very accurate:

We often think that people looked different then. In some cases they did but, we see how people looked in movies and they are very different then who are in movies today. I have met some people who look some what like stars of the 30's and 40's, they're out there just in modern clothes and if done up right, they'd look perfect! The film industry isn't looking for Gene Harlows or Cary Grants today. Most of the normal photos taken by families and media of the 30's show how some people can look out right modern as you can see in some of the photos from the Depression.

=WR=

 

[herringbonekid]

the point of these photos isn't to 'fool' the viewer into thinking they're real vintage photos. it's just a photoshoot inspired by that type of photography. and i agree that people haven't really changed that much. styling is everything. i sometimes see girls in jeans and trainers who could be jaw-droppingly stunning in a 40s dress. makes me sad it does.

incidentally, i think the third freckle-faced lady from the left is cute. in an inbred sort of way.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I like 'em. The one with the guy sitting on the chair is a particularly striking image.

What is a staged fashion shoot if not pretentious and self-obsessed?

bk

 

[Vanessa]

Interesting photo spread. Biggest detractor for me are their eyes and a couple of their faces. . . they just don't have that weathered & beaten look.
But on another note - viva la freckles!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Hey Wild Root, thanks for posting *exactly* the Dorothea Lange pictures I was thinking of!

 

[Wild Root]

Any time friend!

=WR=

PS. Vanessa, they did have soap in the 30's

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I like these photos. The woman with the mink color is absolutely lovely, and I love her hair. The first picture of the women and girls is intriguing; it hints at a larger story. All in all, an interesting and inspired fashion editorial.

 

[Vanessa]

PS. Vanessa, they did have soap in the 30's

Ha. I wasn't implying that they should look unwashed - just that to me, there's something off about their eyes. . . something too similar to the heroin chic fashion spreads from the 90's.

 

[Quigley Brown]

It inspired me, also.