Thursday, January 22, 2009

Night Photographs on Postcards

What I’ve always liked about night photography are the results. The stark lighting isolates shapes as does the dark sky. Shapes are simplified and dramatic. Even without a camera, I like wandering at night.
I’ve collected a few postcards of night scenes over the years. For some time they were in vogue, perhaps encouraged by the increase of film sensitivities. Some of them are really day shots that have been “painted on” to resemble a night scene. These almost always have the same image of the moon-in-clouds in the background sky.
This card is from Dallas, Texas. The color is the classic hand-coloring with transparent tints.
The theater marquee says “Red Snipers Slay Nazis in Stalingrad Streets,” making it easy to set the time of the photograph.
The next card is one I suspect to be more of an artist’s rendering. The Monmouth Hotel in Spring Lake, N. J.
This one has a 1939 cancellation stamp. The message is " Down here for the weekend. Having a wonderful time, even if it terrifically hot. I can't think of anything more to say.
Love Betti"
It has the classic perfect moon in clouds. As does this one of Baltimore;

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