Hope you had a productive day so far, because this is a day-wrecker. National Geographic recently launched an archival Tumblr called Found which is a gold mine of great imagery from the decades of photojournalism from the United States and throughout the world. (See also: The Lively Morgue.)
A few of these images had been popping up in my Tumblr dashboard, but I wasn’t sure as to their origin until last night when I discovered this new site. Seeing this for the first time was a similar experience to when the Life archive (which I might have posted about here and there) was made available via Google. Though what has been posted is just a tiny offering of the vast NatGeo archive, it’s a nice start to what will undoubtedly be a long and enjoyable friendship. [FOUND]
All photos via National Geographic.
Packing up my books this weekend, I stumbled across a copy of Nat Geo from 1939. I stared at the photo of the woman paying the meter for her horse for a good five minutes, thinking, “I should scan this.” Wonderful find, Michael.
It was a matter of simple convenience that started my love of National Geographic. My father’s extensive archive of the publication that took up a whole lot of shelf space in our house just so happened to be within arms reach of a 5 year old. Many times when I should have been doing homework or outside doing something active, I could be found with issues spread all around me examining the photos and the ads(that’s a whole nother beast of a post to tackle) for hours on end. I thought I’d escaped the productivity killing black hole that are the NatGeo archives but here they are once again to consume my days. I guess I’m alright with it.
I can relate to this Andrew, my brother and I inherited our Granddad’s collection and continued until we became teenagers and the internet took over. I really regret it now as I found my love for publications such as this again! Thank you Michael for posting the link to ‘Found’. I know what I’ll be doing on my lunch break now!
The last picture is Subterraneo LÃnea D, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Circa 1950.