DPI welcomes our newest contributing photojournalist, Dermot McGrath. Dermot, a Navy veteran, is based on Long Island. He has traveled to Vietnam several times since the end of the war, and he is deeply involved with the Viet Duc University Hospital Humanitarian Project which is based in Hanoi. This effort sends Vietnamese doctors and nurses for training and observation to several Long Island hospitals.
Our photo “Gravel Road” c.1952 taken somewhere in the western U. S. evokes memories in film and music. Lucinda William’s “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” album comes to mind. In film the choice is extensive. Perhaps “Thelma and Louise” come closest, and would have a similar scene. But then again the girls were in a convertible. The choices for use of this photo are endless, and curtailed only by one’s imagination. We find it an exciting addition to our collection and a must have.
Our recent blog “Daddy, There’s a Pebble in My Shoe” paid tribute to the artist Norman Rockwell. We have argued that some of DPI’s images remind us of paintings done by Rockwell. His work has had a significant influence upon us which is occasionally reflected in our selection of images. The lead photo in this blog we call “The Knockout“; California (June 1938). It’s connection to Rockwell, we believe, is Rockwell’s “Strictly a Sharpshooter” which was used as the cover for the American Magazine in June 1941.
Pay attention folks. The advice that I am going to give you may save your life and the those closest to you one day. You need to be more aware of persons and things in your environment that may put you in harm’s way. You must train your senses to recognize potential dangers whenever and wherever they may occur. We have all heard the slogan “If you see something say something”, but you need to institutionalize this type of thinking upon yourself on a daily basis.
The quotation has been attributed to Oscar Wilde and Charles Caleb Colton as well as others. Did not the Romans learn from the Greeks in taking their Gods and renaming them? And so it goes. Inventions are very often improvements upon the work of earlier inventors. We are all influenced by the work of others. The point is that we are supposed to learn from others and create our own unique style.
“The Water Wagon” on a Kansas farm (1936). An iconic image from the Great Depression. The right subject taken at the precise moment in history with the photographer’s keen eye, a good camera and excellent lighting. Proof that you don’t have to be a professional photographer to produce excellent photos.
Sometimes it all comes together as in this photo taken in 1933 at a German port probably Hamburg. A very “busy” image with a lot to digest. The viewer’s eye is moving back and forth between several points of interest.