Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: surprising

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of odd, unusual, or quirky . Trick photos with double exposures usually involve typical scenes with props like wheelbarrows (see A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow ) or playing cards ( Aunt Maggie's Trick Shot ). The setting for this one, however, is rather unusual. A huge pile of firewood dominates the scene. On the left, two boys stand at the bottom of the woodpile. Partially visible behind them is a farm wagon and beyond the wagon are some trees. Both boys are looking toward the photographer. One of them is pointing toward the top of the pile and wielding a piece of wood as if he intends to use it as a weapon. The other boy is about to start climbing up the pile. On the right, standing at the top of the woodpile are the same two boys. They're both drawing bows as if they're about to shoot arrows, but neither of them has an arrow. So, it appears that the storyline is that the boys are about to climb the woodpile to stop themselves from shooting arrows as they stand on top of the pile. Or at least that's all I can make of it.

This is a postcard that's addressed on the other side to Miss Nellie Groves, Greenland, West Virginia. It was postmarked in Maysville, West Virginia, but the date is missing. Handwritten message: "Hello Nellie, How are you by this time. I am going to school today, when are you coming over. This is from your beau. Henry." For a similar postcard, see Here Is Looking at You .

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 double-exposure trick photo of a woman pushing herself on a wheelbarrow. The double exposure did produce an amusing photo, but the photographer had to add white outlining at the bottom to make the wheelbarrow stand out from the dark streak that runs vertically through the center of the photo. This is a real photo postcard postmarked in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on October 1, 1908, and addressed to Miss Flossie Minch , Waldo, Wisconsin. The sender of the postcard, who's the woman pushing and riding the wheelbarrow, was a schoolteacher. She identified herself only by her initials—N.B.—on the other side of the card. (It's possible, I suppose, that a schoolteacher might use N.B. as the abbreviation for the Latin phrase nota bene , but my guess is that these are the initials of her name.) The message that N.B. wrote on the front of the card (to the left of the photo) has been erased, but enough of it remains that I was able to decipher it. Her written caption for the photo was: "On my way to school in my own private automobile. Ha. Ha." Here's my transcription of N.B.'s message on the other side of the card: Hello Floss, How are you spending these cold days? I enjoy teaching ever so much. Have 21 pupils. Regards to Miss Thomas, Miss Patterson, Miss Stratton. N.B. Sheb., Wis., c/o Mr. J. Kuemmet , R.#4. Love to all the girls. For some other double-exposure trick photos with wheelbarrows and wagons, see: -- A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow -- A Man Pushing Himself on a Wheelbarrow -- A Woman Pulling Herself on a Wagon -- Girls Pulling Themselves on a Wagon

An enlarged view of the board, game pieces, and dice cups in a trick photo of two young men playing against themselves in a game of Parcheesi. The photo is well composed with only a translucent part of the Parcheesi board underneath the hand on the right and a slightly darker streak running vertically through the middle of the photo to give away the double exposure. I'm not certain what might have caused the dark shape on the side of the building directly above the board. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard. .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of playing cards and board games . Two young men pretend to play Parcheesi against themselves as they pose (two times!) for this double exposure photograph. Take a look at a cropped version of the photo showing a close-up view of the Parcheesi board on the top of the table. This is an unused real photo postcard with the words "Post Card" and "The address to be written on this side" printed on its undivided back, which suggests that it may date to sometime during the first decade of the twentieth century.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park that has us seeing double (a photo with 2 things/people that are the same or that look the same) . A real photo postcard that uses a double exposure to show two girls who are inexplicably pulling the same wagon that they're riding in. This trick photo is so well done that I haven't been able to detect the dividing line between the two exposures. Compare this photo with these others in which the trick is more obvious:

A curious photographer props (huge urns or plants, strange objects, taxidermy animals, etc.) photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "E. M. Criswell, Grand Meadow, Minn. Extra finish." A tall bearded fellow--his appearance reminds me of Rasputin , the Russian mystic and confidant to Tsar Nicholas II--stands in front of a painted backdrop and next to an oddly shaped prop as he poses for this cabinet card photo. Is that enigmatic object supposed to look like natural or carved stone? If not, I'm not certain what it's intended to represent.

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.

The upper portion of this photo has been torn off, and a handwritten note on the back of the photo explains why: "The top of this picture was no good, but these legs are mine."