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50 Interesting Photos That Explain History In A Unique Way
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We, humans, are visual creatures. We might read or listen about the past, but looking at photographs is somehow even more pleasing. Since time traveling is not a thing (and probably will never be), what's a better way to visit the places and times we didn't have a chance to be a part of than through vintage photographs?
Pages like Flashbak give us an opportunity to get a glimpse of life before our time by keeping the spirit of old photography alive. They scour the archives to find the coolest photos of famous people and city life in the 20th century, so, here we present to you the most interesting ones!
Bored Panda reached out to the creator of Flashbak, journalist and editor Paul Sorene, and he kindly agreed to tell us more about the project. Check out the story of how Flashbak came to be and how you can contribute to it below!
More info: Facebook | Flashbak | Instagram | Flashbak Shop
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Freddie Mercury And One Of His Many Cats
RELATED:
#2
Richard Harrington: Theresie, Three-Year-Old Daughter Of Erkuaktok (Iquugaqtuq), A Pelly Bay (Arvilikjuaq) Inuk, Standing Next To A Snowman Carved By Her Father, 1951
#3
A Competitor And Her Pet Toad. At The Children’s Pet Shows At Venice Beach, California – 1936
#4
Ahoo Daryaei, A 30-Year-Old Iranian Doctoral Student In French Literature At Tehran’s Islamic Azad University, Iran., Protesting Agaisnt The Regime's Brutal Anti-Women Laws
#5
Tina Turner On The Eiffel Tower - 1989 By Peter Lindbergh
StrangeOne 1 year ago
How?? I can hear her singing "Whaaa o What' love got to do with it got to do with it?"
#6
“My Really Cool Grandma In The USSR:) Tbilisi, Georgia, 1979” - Tata Tabidze
#7
West Berliners Waving To Relatives Over The Berlin Wall, Christmas Day, 1961 By Leon Herschtritt
#8
Patrick Swayze Dancing In The 70s
#9
Dame Diana Rigg And Dame Helen Mirren In The Grounds At Compton Verney Between Takes Of A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1968 - By David Farrell
#10
Ballet Dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s Legs, 1961. By Richard Avedon
#11
In 1974 Serbian-Born Performance Artist Marina Abramovic Told Visitors To Her Show Rhythm 0 (1974) In Studio Morra, Naples, She Wouldn’t Move For Six Hours No Matter What They Did To Her
On a table to her side she placed 72 objects that could be used on her - items included: flowers, a knife and a loaded gun. Her instructions were placed on the table: Instructions: ‘There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired. Performance. I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.’ Abramović said that at first visitors were peaceful and shy, but quickly became violent: ′′The experience I learned was that... if you leave the decision to the public, you might be k**led... I felt very violated. They cut my clothes, put rose thorns in my belly, one person pointed the gun at my head, and another pulled the gun out close. This created an aggressive atmosphere. After exactly 6 hours, as planned, I got up and started walking towards the public. Everyone ran away, escaping from a real confrontation.”
#12
Amy Irving, Carrie Fisher And Teri Garr At A Thanksgiving Party, 1977
#13
Ron Terner : City Island In The Bronx, 1980s
Heras buddy 1 year ago
Knew girls who did this to talk in private. Bike makes a good place to sit.
#14
Sophia Loren Serving Pasta During The Production Of La Ciociara (Vittorio De Sica 1960) In Saracinesco Lazio Italy
#15
Annie Lennox In 1984. Photo By Anton Corbijn
#16
The Piccadilly Line On The London Underground Being Constructed Under The Tram Tracks In 1906
#17
Sean Young’s Polaroid Self-Portrait With Rutger Hauer, 1981- On The Set Of "Blade Runner" In Los Angeles, California
#18
In The Pub - Gorbals, Glasgow, 1968. (Photo By Jurgen Schadeberg)
Dave Van Beurden 1 year ago
If it's Glasgow in the sixties, these ladies are probably in their thirties
#19
Siouxsie Sioux At The Vortex Club, Wardour Street, London, 1977 By Ray Stevenson
#20
Misty Thames. London. 1931
#21
Bowie In Berlin - 1977
Floeckchen 1 year ago
The one directly behind him is Lilo Wanders, a famous drag queen and big celebrity in germany.
#22
Spanish Archaeologist Manuel Esteve Wearing The Corinthian Helmet He Had Found - 1938
#23
Alice Cooper Putting His Face On In 1973. By Terry O'neill
#24
At A Cafe In Paris In 1959 By Saul Leiter (1923 – 2013)
#25
Carolyn Jones (1930-1983) In A Promotional Still For 1957 Noir Crime Film "Baby Face Nelson" Directed By Don Siegel
#26
Blondie Playing Whiskey A Gogo In The Early 70s
#27
Bill Brandt : Coal-Miner’s Bath, Chester-Le-Street, Durham, England In 1937
#28
A Woman Living Opposite Ironbridge Power Station In Telford, Shropshire, England, Sits To Eat By Candlelight During Power Cuts In 1972 By David Bagnall
#29
Paul Mccartney Photo Booth, France 1966
#30
Captain Beefheart And Frank Zappa In The Mojave Desert, California, 1975 - By John Williams
#31
Birmingham In 1962. By Peter Donnelly
#32
Students At The University Of Michigan In 1950 By Stanley Kubrick
#33
Bruno Ganz And Peter Falk, Berlin, 1987. By Walter Yablonsky
#34
Ricki Lake And Divine On The Set Of John Waters’ Hairspray (1988)
#35
Woman With A Crow At The Limelight Cafe, Greenwich Village, New York City By Weegee, C. 1950s
#36
The Ronettes Before Opening For The Beatles In Cleveland, Ohio In 1966
#37
The Fabulous Amy Winehouse In Paris In The 1990s
#38
The Visit
#39
The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Damned And Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers Before First Night Of The The Anarchy Tour At Leeds Polytechnic On December 6, 1976 - Doors Opened At 8pm; Entrance: £1.50
The concert was historic because it was the first night of the Anarchy In The UK Tour (The Damned were replaced by the Buzzcocks after the Leeds gig).
#40
Merry Christmas
#41
Sinéad O’Connor In 1987 By Anton Corbijn
#42
Trying To Hear The Whispers Up In London’s St Pauls Cathedral In 1950
The Whispering Gallery was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the renowned architect who was also responsible for the construction of St. Paul’s Cathedral itself. It is located 30 meters above the floor of the cathedral and is accessible via a staircase of 259 steps. The gallery gets its name from the way sound travels along its curved surface, allowing whispers to be heard from one side of the dome to the other
#43
Boys With A Boombox On 14th Street, NYC, 1983. By Morris Engel
#44
H.r. Giger And Debbie Harry With The Harkonnen Chair He Built For Ridley Scott’s Dune Project - 1980
#45
Marlon Brando Photographed By Cecil Beaton For Vogue In 1947
He was 23 at the time and not yet appeared in films.
#46
Before Housing The West Lawn Branch Of The Chicago Public Library, 6356 S. Kedzie Was Home To The Midget Club (1948 – 1982)
The bar was run by a husband and wife team – Chicago native Parnell St. Aubin (December 19, 1922 – December 4, 1987) and Mary Ellen Burbach (born September 21, 1920).
Both had showbiz pedigree. He’d played a Munchkin soldier in The Wizard of Oz. She was a former Mae West impersonator with the vaudeville troupes Rose’s Parisian Midget Follies. Mary also performed with (and see if you spot a theme): Fred Roper & His Wonderful Midgets, Henry & Dolly Kramer Midget Troupe, and Nate Eagle’s Hollywood Midgets.Was
superfluous 1 year ago
She died in 2021. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248375836/mary_ellen-st_aubin
#47
Police Photo From 1952 Salvaged From A Stash Of Lapd Crime Pictures
#48
‘No B***hing Before 6am’ Smithfield, London In 1998 By Sarah Ainslie
#49
Vivian Maier: Self-Portrait, 1956 Taken In Chicago, Illinois
#50
“The Factory”. Budapest. Hungary. 1955 Photo: Erno Vadas
#51
Poodle With Phone Booth, Chicago, Illinois, 1968 By Vivian Maier
#52
Department Store Wax Mannequins Melting During A Heatwave In 1929
#54
Donald Sutherland (Second From Left) With The Puppet Club At Victoria School In Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada In 1948
#55
Kate Bush Dressed As A Bat, 1978
#56
Eminem With His Group Soul Intent In 1991
#58
Times Square NYC, 1958 By Allyn Baum
#59
Elton John’s Jeans Photographed By Terry O’neill, Circa 1972
#60
The Mazda Mx-81 Aria, 1981 - By Bertone. (The Mx Stood For Mazda Experimental)
#61
Wedding, Bratsk, Siberia, USSR, 1967 By Elliott Erwitt
#62
Basketball Coach Alexander Gomelsky And His Protégé Vladimir Tkachenko, USSR - 1986. (Ht Oldskoolcool)
#63
May 16 1984 - Madonna Before She Performed ‘Dress You Up’ And ‘Like A Virgin’ For Keith Haring’s 26th Birthday Party At New York’s Paradise Garage
#64
California, 1957 By Ralph Crane
#65
Who’s In?
Nice Beast Ludo 1 year ago
Looks cool. No one comes up with creative stuff to scam you with anymore.
#66
Happy Halloween From Neil Young And His Pumpkin
#68
On The Road With Jane Birkin And Serge Gainsbourg In Oxfordshire, England, 1969. By Andrew Birkin
#69
Scold’s Bridle From Armagh Jail - Used To Quieten Inmates. Co Armagh. Early 1900s. National Museums Northern Ireland
#70
Magician And Origami Expert Robert Harbin (12 February 1908 – 12 January 1978) Makes A Sunbather Levitate On The Beach At Eastbourne, East Sussex, England On 12 September 1956
#72
A Woman With The Word 'Invincible' Embroidered On Her Knickers Welcomes Back HMS Invincible Back From The Falklands Islands On 27 September 1982 - By Colin Davey
Nice Beast Ludo 1 year ago
I wonder what's embroidered on her friend's underwear .. she is about to show it too
#73
‘This Is Not A Pipe’ Marcel Duchamp With Ann Miller’s Leg As A Pipe, Vue Magazine, 1954
#75
Children Jumping Onto Mattresses At Ashfield Valley Estate At Rochdale, Lancashire, England In The 1980s - Photographer Unknown
#76
Cynthia The Celebrity Mannequin (1932)
Cynthia became a star. She appeared on the cover of Life magazine’s issue of July 12 1937. People sent her gifts and fan mail. Cartier and Tiffany sent her jewellery, French-American milliner Lilly Daché (c. 1892 – 31 December 1989) designed hats for her, couturiers sent her their latest fashions and furrieries sent minks.
PunchinelloTX 1 year ago
Cynthia was an odd phenomenon and a fascinating glimpse at the rabid devotion humans can show to anything offered on the altar of the cult of fame. Really peculiar.
#77
Julianne Moore (Born : 3.12.1960) “The Audience Doesn’t Come To See You, They Come To See Themselves.”
#79
Mary Ellen Mark (1940–2015) Santa Takes A Break, 1964
#80
Eye Clinic In Tainan, Taiwan By Wang Shuang-Chuan - 1962
#81
Carroll Boreland In Mark Of The Vampire, 1935
#82
Dinner At Andy Warhol’s Factory, NYC In 1985
Seated are: Quentin Crisp, Bianca Jagger, Rupert Everett, Boy George, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring.
Photo by Timothy Hursley
#84
Paris, Texas Wim Wenders 1984
#85
William Eggelston - Any Time
#86
Vivian Maier: Self Portrait
#87
Béatrice Dalle & Azzedine Alaïa By Jean-Paul Goude, 1998
#89
Steve Schapiro : New Jersey, 1963
#90
Robert Zimmerman And His Doll Paco’s Pete, Christmas, 1950
“AT CHRISTMAS OF 1950 I scored really big! I not only got an HO gauge Peco Train Set, I also got my ventriloquist dummy that I named “Peco’s Pete”. He and I wore almost-matching flannel shirts. Sadly, or maybe for the better, my ventriloquist act didn’t go over too well: Pete was getting all the laughs, so I decided to break up the team and let him go his own way. The last time I heard from him, Pete was somewhere in Verona, Italy playing a benefit at a retirement home for old ventriloquists.”
Nice Beast Ludo 1 year ago
I got a ventriloquist doll named Lester when I was 12. He was a snappy black man with curly hair and glasses. He wore a nice argyle suit and came with a guidebook in being a ventriloquist. I wanted him so badly. I was very strange and awkward preteen
#91
Waking The Dead - Charlie Hewitt, 1949
#92
Polaroid Of Candy Darling By Robert Mapplethorpe, 1972
#93
Caroline Coon Wearing Yamamoto Early 1970s
#94
On The New York City Subway In 1968 By Ronnie Ginnever
Multa Nocte 1 year ago
Is that Queen Elizabeth second from the right, sneaking out on a day trip?
#95
Las Vegas In 1947
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Nice Beast Ludo 1 year ago
These were great. I haven't seen any of them before. Beautiful collection
Nice Beast Ludo 1 year ago
These were great. I haven't seen any of them before. Beautiful collection
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