I’ve been scanning hundreds of old photographs from my hometown in Minnesota. What was written on some of the postcards or back of photos is very revealing of that era. Some are short notes that have the brevity of a Twitter message. What some of the photographers wanted to be known for is also interesting, stamped boldly on the back.
I have three scans that I did that I’ll show in this blog as I wonder how much was photographed of Kazakhstan. I know that Max Penson was a Belorussian Jew (1893-1959) who went to Uzbekistan to do B&W photos of what was supposedly the “happy” Uzbeks. I think he caught on that not all things were rosy as he was instructed to depict through his camera. His artistry is amazing nevertheless and I’m glad someone has taken the time to scan many of his photos. Google his name to find them.
Tonight on PBS there will be a four hour documentary about the “Dustbowl” by Ken Burns. My husband’s dad, my father-in-law was born in 1899 took many photos of his Kansas town of Ulysses, KS. The NY Times article shows one famous one he took and is featured at the beginning of the article (skip the advertisement). It shows Main Street in Ulysses, looking north. His parents’ photo studio is on the left hand side. Two of these pictures of his dad’s were often published with the caption, “Daylight to Darkness in 30 seconds.”
Arman said,
November 29, 2012 @ 6:02 am
Interesting article. Thank you for sharing your views and opinions in your blog. It’s always interesting to see what people think about your country.
Greetings from a Kazakh student in Toronto!
Cheers!
kazaknomad said,
December 3, 2012 @ 9:35 am
Thanks Arman, I’m glad you find my blog of interest. Not too many westerners know about Kazakhstan much less write about this great country. Are you on a Bolashak scholarship? Kudos to you!