Monday 19 December 2011

Coronation of King George VI


Picture author: Henri Cartier-Bresson
Picture date: 12th May 1937
Published in: French Regard weekly magazine

Mr. Cartier-Bresson took this picture on Trafalgar Square on the coronation date of King George VI. Year 1936 was difficult for British nation. King George V died after long reign, and King Edward VIII abdicated after a year of reign to marry American socialite. King George VI took over the throne in times when people were not respectful towards monarchy.

Regard magazine was not happy that Henri Cartier-Bresson covered the coronation day, but did not shoot even one picture of the king or the carriage. Photographer took the picture of the crowd waiting to see the coronation, and the sleeping man who was waiting overnight and fell asleep. The man and photographer are missing coronation process, but the interests of the person behind the camera are to show the crowd who is divided, but united in the same moment. He portrayed historic moment in faces of people who saw how history is being created. He portrayed their faces, cheering and dancing. His lens covered it all.

Monday 12 December 2011

Henry Ford and Model T


Picture date: 1921
Picture published by: Henry Ford Museum

The above picture depicts Henry Ford and his ground-breaking car, Model T. It was shot in Buffalo, New York in 1921. In the same year about 1 million Model Ts came out from his assembly lines. Henry Ford was a car entrepreneur of the century who developed the technique of mass production and assembly lines. He was responsible for revolution in automobile and transportation industries.

Before releasing Model T, Henry Ford was working with 19 prototypes for five years. Those models were named from A to T which was actually the final model. The release of Model T marked the beginning of affordable cars for masses. The original price of Model T was $850 or £180. After including the inflation, the price estimates around $20.000. It was a half or one third of the price of other cars at that time. the price dropped eventually to $300 by 1920s. Mr. Ford decided that due to the success of Model T, the next model will not be Model U, but 'Ford Model A' to begin naming from the start.

Monday 5 December 2011

The Man and the Mouse


This picture depicts Walt Disney and the silhouette of Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse was created by him and eventually became a symbolic figure of American culture. Mickey Mouse was at first the replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but when Disney lost rights to him, he decided to leave Universal Studios and start his own cartoon series. Mickey Mouse was the animation response to Charlie Chaplin, and Disney was very sensitive about his appearance.

Mickey Mouse debuted in Plane Crazy in May 1928, but received wide recognition six months later when Steamboat Willie was released. It was a parody of Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill Jr., but with addition of the sound it became very successful.

In 1959, Mickey Mouse became a true American symbol when Nikita Khrushchev visited Los Angeles and requested to visit the Disneyland. However, his wish could not be fulfilled because of security reasons.