Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: altered

"'Blasting stumps' on the Isted Farm. Whipple Photo." A dramatic real photo postcard showing the detonation of dynamite or some other explosive in an apparent attempt to clear tree stumps from a field. Evidently, though, the blast didn't look impressive enough, so the photographer drew on the negative to add large pieces of fake debris flying high into the air. It also appears that the photographer crossed out an earlier caption and wrote the words "blasting stumps" over it. I haven't been able to determine the location of "Isted Farm" or the identity of the "Whipple Photo" photographer.

After closely inspecting this photo (see the full and cropped versions) for quite some time, I was surprised to finally realize that there's someone--or part of someone, to be precise--missing from it. Take another glance at the bride's mother, who was caught with her eyes closed. A man's shoulders are visible directly behind her. The man's head, however, has been imperfectly altered so that it partially blends in with the folds of the curtain behind him. Who was this mysterious wedding guest, and who wanted him out of the picture? We'll never know, but I find it amazing how well hidden--to my eyes, at least--he turned out to be. It's remarkable that this simple method of concealment was so successful in hiding this man's presence in the photo.

As I mentioned (see the full version of this photo), I bought this picture at an antique mall and noticed something strange about it after I got it home. I purchased the photo because I liked the furnishings in the room--take a look at the chandelier, curtains, and flowers in the background, for instance. And there's a flowery border running along the top of the wall just below the ceiling. I also found the wedding party interesting. The wide-eyed groom seems to be stunned, but the bride, who's holding a large bouquet of flowers, looks calm and serene. The groom's father (at far right) is sporting a moustache and so is the bride's father (on the left). The photographer happened to catch the bride's mother (standing to the left of the bride) with her eyes closed. I examined all these details and looked at the photo for quite a while before I spotted something downright strange. Did you find it yet? If not, check out another enlargement from this image.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of putting on the ritz—dressed up for a special occasion . I picked up this wedding photo at a local antique mall a year or two ago. It wasn't in great shape, but it was a larger photo mounted on cardboard, and I liked the interesting room furnishings, the period clothing, and the amusing facial expressions. When I got home and examined the photo more closely, however, I noticed something strange about it. Were you able to spot it? If not, take a look at a cropped version of the photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of defaced or altered—any photo that was found with the face scratched off, marked out, cut, etc. If you don't have a defaced photo in your collection, you can post any found photo that has been altered in some way, such as with writing, drawing, collage, etc. I found this cabinet card at a local antique mall a while ago. The elaborate wicker chair was what first caught my eye, and I was somewhat disappointed when I realized that someone had pasted Harry Truman 's head on the photo. But I ended up purchasing it anyway for the surreal—or maybe just silly—juxtaposition of presidential head and baby body. For other altered photos, see Altered Victorian Cabinet Card Portrait with Painted Skull Mask, Harrisburg, Pa. , and Does the Foreman Know about This?

"Hi Bill! Does the foreman know about this?" "He ought to, it's dropped on him!" A comic postcard with pasted-on heads that were cut from photos.

A defaced or altered photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I was surprised when I spotted this painted-over cabinet card photo at an antique mall last year. I had never seen anything quite like it, and I thought that it ruined the photo. On the other hand, I was intrigued by the way some unknown artist had re-imagined what was probably an otherwise unremarkable portrait, painting a modern lucha libre skull mask (and a small bat) onto a nineteenth-century photo and thereby transforming it into a work of Halloween art. I didn't necessarily want to encourage anyone to deface old photos, and I debated whether to even purchase it. The cabinet card was the only painted photo in the antique dealer's booth, however, and the eyes looked so haunting and pleading that I ended up buying it. Since then, I've come across Now and Then: The Cabinet Card Paintings of Alex Gross (Berkeley, Calif.: Gingko Press, 2012), a book described by its publisher as "the complete compendium of acclaimed artist Alex Gross's mixed media paintings layered on top of antique 19th century cabinet card photographs from portrait studios all around the country" (for before-and-after examples of the cabinet photos and finished paintings in the book, see the February 8, 2013, posting on Larry Fire's Fire Wire Pop Culture Blog ). This cabinet card painting isn't as elaborate as those by Alex Gross, and I still have mixed feelings about these kinds of mixed media, but it's still fascinating to see how the somewhat contradictory juxtaposition of modern artwork and vintage media can create something new and surprising. Note to administrators of photo groups: If you feel that the altered aspect of this photo isn't suitable for your group, I won't be offended at all if you remove it. Otherwise, I hope it sparks some discussion regarding the appropriateness of using old photographs in this manner.