MEZZALUNA.ME

"when you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. but when you photograph people in black-and-white, you photograph their souls." - ted grant a carefully curated selection of rare vintage photos, with feeling, by mezzaluna.me. header photo credits: brassai, getty images, esther bubley, inge morath, luis castaneda. all photos posted here are the property of their respective copyright holders presented for 'non-profit educational purposes' within the 'fair use' terms. they may be used on other sites for non-commercial use, but only if clearly credited to the photographer/ copyright owner and mentioned mezzaluna.me. those caught reposting/ stealing will be reported. thank you, for respecting the art and the artist.

[m3zzaluna]

central park during winter, new york, n.d.

@ digital vision

[m3zzaluna]

2016 is almost over. the conversation around the coffee machine in my office these days has really evolved into the talking about each year seems to go by faster as we get older. psychologists have put some interesting theories, but i have always assumed that it’s because when you’re young everything is new, so you experience it like the first time, because it is. over time, those experiences pile up and become the routine, so you don’t acknowledge them much. eventually, they just…pass you by.

that’s how my year 2016 seemed like. so short, it flew by. i put money down on a new condo. major construction delay. six months, still not in. one delay has screwed up my whole year plans. all i have been doing is waiting......waiting some more......and more......waiting. waiting is boring. one time, i caught myself trying to press the microwave buttons to the tune of the mario theme song because i was so bored.

no best-of this year since i haven’t posted much (so sorry about that). buuut! here’s my most popular posts of all time, if anyone’s interested. (click photo for link.) also, previously 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for sticking around and supporting me. hope you have a wonderful time whenever, wherever, and however you will be celebrating. whatever happened is over. time to make new experiences!

see you in 2017. :)

— luna

[m3zzaluna]

montmartre district, paris, 1950s

© willy ronis

» view similar photos | more from this photographer

[m3zzaluna]

montmartre, paris, june 1960 [original]

© ernst haas

[m3zzaluna]

[m3zzaluna]

» note from mezzaluna: reuploaded with a bigger, better quality image!

view of rain-swept pedestrians as they walk past the palais du louvre (on the left) towards a trio of arches that lead to the pont du carrousel, paris, 1937 [original]

© fred stein [website]

» here is what this place looks like in 360° today.

[m3zzaluna]

brooklyn bridge in rainy weather, 1927 [historical publications: “reflets photographiques.” Vu 1, no. 2 (march 1928): 49 (as untitled photograph); roh, franz and jan tschichold. foto-auge: 76 fotos der zeit, pl. 36 (as brooklynbrücke bei regenwetter―le pont de brooklyn par temps de pluie―brooklyn bridge in rainy weather). stuttgart: akademischer verlag dr. fritz wedekind & co., 1929.]

@ j. jay hirz, from object:photo. modern photographs: the thomas walther collection 1909-1949

[m3zzaluna]

pedestrians hurry past a subway entrance on a rainy winter day, new york, early 1910s

@ alvin langdon coburn/ george eastman museum

» note from mezzaluna: i’m back! sorry for lack of posts the last three months. work and condo remodel have had me tied up. thanks to all for your patience and kind messages/ emails while i was away. i’ll get back to you as soon as i can!

[m3zzaluna]

sailing of the cristoforo colombo, genoa, 1959 [original]

© stefano robino, from eyes wide open! 100 years of leica photography

» view similar photos: bert hardy's goodbye | robert doisneau's love and barbed wire | cecil beaton’s the letter | enzo sellerio’s zurigo | vernon merritt's mrs. donn f. eisele

[m3zzaluna]

two young german-jewish refugees looking through portholes aboard the hamburg-amerika (sometimes also hamburg-amerikanische packetfahrt-actien-gesellschaft: HAPAG, hamburg-america, hamburg-american, or hamburg) liner ‘st. louis’ on arrival at antwerp after being refused entry to cuba and miami prior to the start of wwii, june 17, 1939 [original]

© gerry cranham

» view similar photos

[m3zzaluna]

untitled, 1946 [original]

© willy ronis

» view similar photos | more from this photographer

» note from mezzaluna: dedicated to a stray kitten i found who died from cat flu today

i found him in my condo parking lot walking around bumping into things. there had to be something wrong with him so i decided to check him out. he was only a few months old and really underweight that he could hardly walk or stand upright. his eyes were red, swollen, and watery. and then he sneezed on me and when he did it was really wet. i gave him milk, but he could barely swallow. it was already getting dark when i found him, so i decided to take him to the local vet tomorrow afternoon, figured he'd be ok.

he wasn’t. turned out the vet said that he had a cat flu, secondary infection, which means the cat cannot deal with it. there are currently no drugs that can specifically kill the viruses, but most cats can recover. unfortunately, very young (or very old) and immunosuppressed cats who develop secondary infections are more likely to die. in this little guy’s case, he wasn’t going to live more than 4 days, give or take 1 day.

i knew it was too late, but i never give up. i wanted to give him a chance to survive. so i asked the vet to do everything he could to help the cat recover from this or, at least, feel better. he then went in the back to clean the cat’s eyes and give him the vaccine that might be useful in treating and fighting off the disease.

“i haven’t filled in the registered name of the cat. does he have a name yet?” the vet asked as i stood up to leave.

“errr... no, he doesn’t. i was terribly worried about him that i forgot to...”

“i understand,” the vet smiled, “as of this moment his name is Stray.”

i nodded and smiled back. “miracles do happen. i’ll come up with another name if he survives. maybe Lucky.”

Stray died 3 days later (aug 3, 2016) on the white blanket while i was at work. i was prepared for things to not work out, still hit me hard. the only thing that brings me comfort is knowing that he's no longer in pain.

goodbye, Stray. you’re in a better place now.

edit: thank you so much for your kind words and sharing your story. those concerned about me getting the cat flu, i’m not. cat flu cannot be spread to humans. *phew*

[m3zzaluna]

sondersdorf, alsace, france, 1945 [original]

© robert doisneau

» here is what this place looks like in 360° today

[m3zzaluna]

untitled (from the cycle pure of sight, no year) [original]

© huang jing, from eyes wide open! 100 years of leica photography

[m3zzaluna]

swiss writer georges borgeaud's studio, france, 1954 [original]

© willy ronis

» view similar photos | more from this photographer

[m3zzaluna]

gordes, france, 1958 [original]

© willy ronis, from les chats de willy ronis

» view similar photos | more from this photographer

[m3zzaluna]

untitled (paris, 1954) [original]

© willy ronis, from les chats de willy ronis

[m3zzaluna]

[m3zzaluna]

» note from mezzaluna: reuploaded with a better quality image!

rue henri-monnier, distribution of tracts in notre-dame-de-lorette district, paris, c. 1940 1944 [original]

© robert doisneau

[m3zzaluna]

showering leaflets on rue henri-monnier, 9th arrondissement, paris, 1944 [original]

© robert doisneau, from doisneau paris

» note from mezzaluna: here’s the uncropped version of the same image i posted a few years ago