I love posting vintage photos for you guys, but this fine Monday I have something a little extra special. Greg showed this to me last night, and I was completely entranced. Vintage footage of San Francisco, shot on Super 8, with a dreamy modern soundtrack by Air. You'll see it all, the iconic cable cars, Coit Tower, Chinatown, the Bay Bridge, Lombard Street and of course the lovely Golden Gate bridge. This is my city as it was in 1958. Happy Monday!
San Francisco 1958 from Jeff Altman on Vimeo.
Helllllo everyone! Thanks so much for the awesome happy wishes for our anniversary. You guys are the best! Greg got me a great little gifty, but of course there is a story that goes along with it so I'll have to write it up this weekend. Speaking of, we have another action packed one—wolfie's school is having a Harvest Festival and then on Sunday we're going to this fun pumpkin patch that you ride a vintage trolley to get to. Weeeee! I can't wait. This fall is just FLYING by, I can't even believe it.
So I have been meaning to post about this all week. I just love when you get something unexpected in the mail. I'm happy with a little letter or card (so rare these days!) but just look at the sweetest little package that arrived in the mail last week from AUSTRALIA—from the super cute Lisa Tilse of The Red Thread blog. Lisa is one of my favorite people i've never met in real life. We first became pals during decor8/Holly Becker's amazing (AMAZING!) "Blogging Your Way" class. Lisa is super cool, so artistic and just full of fun. Her blog is pretty great....and for some reason she decided I was the winner of some contest and was getting a little care package. Frankly I think she made the whole thing up, because she's just so darn sweet like that, but either way I GLADLY take any goodies anyone wants to send my way. Check out this lovely package (amazing wrapping too!):
Lisa's artwork is so great, I looooove that little vintage dish, the fun stickie stickers and stationary....but the best thing byfar you can't see (its underneath that stack). Lisa's Sweetie Petite Doll kit—a super cool "make your own softie doll" out of Lisa's illustrations. It is brill, I can't wait to try it! (get your own HERE). THANK YOU THANK YOU Lisa!!!
You rock missy.
Have an amazing weekend friends!
xoxo
If you like vintage fashion photography then you're gonna love John French. Mr. French was an English chap who took flawlessly lit high fashion photos in the 50s and 60s. He worked with debutants and high fashion models (Jean Shrimpton, Twiggy, even Grace Coddington—which reminds me I STILL haven't seen that darn September Issue movie. waaah!). Interestingly enough, French was less concerned with the actual shots and more obsessed with getting his models in the perfect pose and having immaculate sets—his assistants were often the ones who actually literally took the photos. Then again, his assistants were Terence Donovan and David Bailey, both of whom grew into hotsy totsy photogs of their own, so I supposed he knew what he was doing! I have some amazing images he did with projections on his models, but lets start out with these beauties!
This is a great excerpt from David Bailey on his friend, John French:
"...French, then in his early fifties, was the epitome of the fashion photographer and portraitist of the era: exquisitely attired, fastidious, posh and gay (although, as it happened, married). "John French looked," Bailey remembered, "like Fred Astaire. 'David,' he said, 'do you know about incandescent light and strobe? Do you know how to load a ten-by-eight film pack?' I said yes to everything he asked and he gave me the job, but, at that time, I didn't even know what a strobe was. We became friends and after six o'clock Mr. French became John. One night I asked him why he gave me the job. 'Well, you know, David,' he said, 'I liked the way you dressed.' Six months later everyone thought we were having an affair, but in fact, although we were fond of each other, we never got it on."
In fact, French—"a screaming queen who fancied East End boys," according to documentarian Dick Fontaine—was the first person to really recognize something special in Bailey. Partly it was his bohemian style—Cuban-heeled boots, jeans, leather jacket and hair over the ears, all before the Beatles had been heard of; party in was his aptitude for the craft. French liked to compare his young protege to the unnamed hero of Colin MacInnes's cult novel about bohemian London, Absolute Beginners—a savvy insight—and he was perfectly willing, as he had with many previous disciples, to see Bailey get ahead in his own work.
"He was an incredibly decent type of man," Bailey would say of his mentor after French died in 1966. "Truthfully I don't think he was very good as a photographer, but he had a good attitude. His photography sort of slowed me down a bit, because I had to break away from his way of doing things, but I benefited from his attitude."
Greg discovered the coolest photo shoot the other day in VICE magazine. These photos by Miranda July and Roe Ethridge are pretty damn amazing, in a Cindy Sherman-esque way. Inspired by famous movie scenes they are.....welll, let me just stop talking. It'll be more fun for you to just check them out yourselves.
Eight years ago, Greg and I were married in Palm Springs, California. It really was a totally glorious and special day for us. As you may have guessed by my last post, we were married at the iconic 1960s "House of the Future" aka Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway. A dream come true! They don't typically rent the place out that often, so it was very special that we were allowed to have our day there (and the lovely couple who own the place were exceptionally kind and really helped to make it happen for us!). Everyone does things their own way...some folks want a small intimate affair, others go for the big hoopla. We wanted a nifty location, a fun vintage cocktail party vibe and something that was special enough that we would remember, but not so over-the- top that we were broke for years after. I shockingly didn't spend much on my dress (shoes and accessories were vintage, the dress was new) and I did all my own flowers. I'm also a vintage kookoo, so of course I also staged the place with my own vintage pillows, bric-a-brac and vintage bridal magazines in the "boudoir" (everyone thought they were part of the place! haha).
