Found Photographs

[mdm]

Its a stunning photograph. It has am amazing atmosphere, with all the shadow and the emphasis on the menace of the car rather than the blur of the crowd.

[C4D]

absolutely... I can honestly say it is one of the best artistic photographs I have ever had the pleasure to work with included any of my own photographs. The photograph portrays some many wonderful examples why photography is a strong artistic medium. For example I love the strong contrast of the highlighted front windshield next to the dark mysterious side windows that contain a famous general moments before tragedy... amazing foreshadowing really almost like the photograph knew the fate of the near future. Another strong contrast point is the one person in the background crowd that is wearing white, maybe a sign of something like a single angel surrounded in a impossible prominent dark scene... just very neat, you can find many things in this photograph.

[Jim Cole]

'Moments before the death of an American Hero"

Photographed by Sam B. Lewis
Restored and edited by Mark Karpinski

This really is a great photograph. The car really stands out from the background as if it's been elevated to "special status" within the photographic record, quite different than the way a normal subject grabs attention. I can't quite put my finger on it or express very well what I'm trying to say. The car is almost otherworldly. A premonition?

[C4D]

A premonition?

I think you have found the perfect statement to help explain the photograph... I to have trouble expressing the feeling of the scene, its easy to feel but hard to put in words!

Thanks Jim!

[Sevo]

Nice legend. But the moment between photograph and crash might have been much bigger than the tradition has it - the house in the background is not on the Mannheimer Straße (the road leading to the accident site). All remaining pre-war structures there are much smaller and lower class, and most of it was rebuilt in the post-war years (so that it will have been in ruins in 1945) - and the entire borough (a village turned working class district) is quite unlikely to have ever sported a inner city building. Besides, there seems to be a massive crowd of spectators on the roadside, so this was probably taken during a parade or at least on approach to some public event, rather than on a private ride through suburbia.

[C4D]

From what I have been told... the crowd of people are US service men waving good bye to Patton as he was set to leave Germany and head back to the US for retirement in the next few days. So this was some sort of a celebration parade to show thanks.
I just can't figure out exactly where this was taken and what part of the timeline. I'm really starting to think it was in the town of Heidelberg because this particular photographer has many photos of the town at this period of time. I just don't know if it was the day of the crash or a day before. I can find info that there was a impromptu good bye parade for Patton but I cant find the exact date or location, just a simple mention of it.

Another interesting thing I found is last night I rescanned the negative overexposing it as much as I could with the scanner I can now totally see Horace L. Woodring driving the vehicle and two shadow figures in the rear of the car so I'm pretty certain Patton is in this car at the time. I can share it if anyone is interested.

Thanks Sevo for your insight of this... and if anyone has any resources that can maybe get the real history or possibility of this photograph I would greatly appreciate it!

[al olson]

I am curious as to why, if General Patton were in the car, there is no General's flag on the fender. The Army is usually quite anal regarding this formality.

[Scott Davis]

I agree that the style of studio portrait suggests a much later date. Possibly it was 1886 not 1856? That could explain his appearance as well as the style. How big is the original print? if it is 5x7-ish or larger, it is most likely NOT 1856 (not that you can't find bigger prints from that period, but 1856 is the dawn of the CDV era, and most images on paper from that time period were 2.5"x4" Cartes-de-Visites (CDVs).

Brookmire's Wedding Day, 1856.

Attachment 83229

Original print unframed on cardboard, courtesy Drinkwater family. Commercially scanned and cleaned up in PS. The Brookmire's were born in Ontario and married there before emmigrating to Montana. Records suggest that in 1856 they were aged in there mid-twenties. Some problems here. The grey beard and the Grizzly coat, the latter more likely in Montana. Also 1856 seems very early for this quality studio image. Contributors on another Forum have suggested that Mr. Brookmire might have been blonde and the coat could be a studio prop. The owner of this print is now deceased and I have given up on any further research.

[Scott Davis]

Here's one I found in an antique shop in Gettysburg, PA, for $2. The sitter is anonymous, but the photographer is Mrs. H.F. Stuart, one of the founders (along with William Mumler, who worked out of the same studio she did) of "spirit photography". Obviously not a spirit photo (no hovering forms of deceased loved ones/friends/family/'spiritual guides' in the background), but an overall outstanding image. The scan does not do the original condition justice - the albumen of the print has a like-new sheen, without the crazing and matte finish you expect from vintage prints.

[Craig Fransen]

In addition to making LF images, I too enjoy collecting and scanning old photos, especially glass negatives. Random pictures are nice, but what is truly interesting is when I know something about the photographer or the subject. Armed with these and resources such as ancestry.com, etc., it is often possible to track down the subjects' descendants.

My first try at this was with a set of photos purchased at the local St. Vincent de Paul of Wadena, Mn c. 1905. Some of the plates were in envelopes with labels. I was able to track down a descendant of one photo (http://public.fotki.com/cfransen/old...09-neg-no.html), a lady in Massachusetts as I recall.

But a real gold mine turned up when I purchased a lot of 1,500 8 x 10 glass negatives from Bushnell Studios, Portland, OR c. 1915. The more I scanned, the more I studied these negatives, the more entranced I became. Almost every one was inscribed with the subject's last name, along with the order (e.g., 5 8 x 10 buff hazy), and the photographer's catalog number. So not only could I try to track down descendants, but I could put the photos into a timeline.

Almost every negative had been retouched. From faint scratches on the faces, to scratches outlining shoulders, etc., to wax crayon (or something) highlighting wedding dresses, to painted backgrounds, added details such as clock faces, entire book cases, the artistry is to me astounding.



The ones online currently as just the first ones I scanned. Many more (and more beautiful) images to come.

See the Bushnell folder at this link:

http://public.fotki.com/cfransen/old-photographs/