Atomic Dawn over Los Angeles

T

Tannhauser

Venerable Relic of the Wastes
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Nuclear weapons testing in Nevada used to create a spectacle for early morning Los Angeles. Recently, a series of photos of the sight, from 1951 to 1955, were found by a Boing Boing reader in the Los Angeles Public Library photo collection. One of the photo descriptions describes the display as a 'momentary aurora borealis.'<blockquote><center> </center><center> </center></blockquote>
Not only are they interesting pictures of nuclear testing, they present compelling fifties cityscapes.
 
They look - beautiful. What exactly means 'momentary aurora borealis' ? Never heard that phrase...
 
The third one, the one with the male torso in the foreground, looks just like a painting. Odd.

I don't think the "aurora borealis" efect in the background is anything special, but I do enjoy the scenery in those pics. The buildings look great.
 
alec said:
alec said:
The third one, the one with the male torso in the foreground, looks just like a painting. Odd.
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That one does look weird indeed. There's something wrong with it, but I'm too lazy to try and figure it out.
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His hand, it doesn't look like it's in his pocket, though it's not there. The taper of his sleeve looks wrong too.
 
Im not arguing that, theyre obviously (at the very minimum) touched up digityly, but still nice pics.
 
Doubtful.

There was no Photoshop in the fifties.

My hypothesis: Those pictures were retouched in the fifties, with now obsolete techniques, hence their somehow awkward look. Add to that the low quality of photo film in that decade, compared to today's film, and eventual damage due to the material's aging.
 
Another hypothesis.....

The pics were real, but some elements were added in more recently.

EDIT: Not that Im compleatly discounting your hypothesis. My late grandfather was in commerical graphics arts in that same era and did work like that, thatsaid the alterations Ive seen of that type didnt look like that, they either looked almost 100% real due to a skilled artist, or fucked up due to an artist foulup.
 
Awesome pics.... But I'm pretty sure that 3rd one isn't real, or at least the guy in the foreground isn't.
 
Psychosniper said:
Another hypothesis.....

The pics were real, but some elements were added in more recently.

EDIT: Not that Im compleatly discounting your hypothesis. My late grandfather was in commerical graphics arts in that same era and did work like that, thatsaid the alterations Ive seen of that type didnt look like that, they either looked almost 100% real due to a skilled artist, or fucked up due to an artist foulup.
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Yet another HYPOTHESIS!: You don't know what you're talking about.

"Elements", "Recently"? How? Where? Show.

And no. 1950's photo retouching sucked ass. No artist skill involved.
 
Wooz said:
Yet another HYPOTHESIS!: You don't know what you're talking about.

"Elements", "Recently"? How? Where? Show.

And no. 1950's photo retouching sucked ass. No artist skill involved.
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Hey, guess what: it's your pedantic attitude which makes you a real pain in the neck! Har har har! :P
Even a mongoloid with cataract could tell you there's obviously something wrong with the third picture.
 
Har har har!

Guess what? I didn't imply those pictures weren't strange! Zomgge!

Now fuck off, I'm sure there are kilograms of athlete's foot and urine-stinking pussy waiting for you right now.
 
Wooz said:
Now fuck off, I'm sure there are kilograms of athlete's foot and urine-stinking pussy waiting for you right now.
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Petition to ban Wooz for unnecessary flaming.

:roll:

Urine-stinking pussy? That a Polish thing?
 
True, it looks like the UFO sightings fakes from the late 50's and early sixties that i saw when i was a kid and would buy all sort of books about them. The same strange glow and lights, the same figures that seem cut out from the scenery.
 
Unillenium, forgive my ignorance, but couldn't they just have used a more sensitive film? While I agree those pics look weird, I wouldn't go so far as to say they look fake. But then, I'm no photography expert, and I'm not being asked to invest money, so my give-a-damn factor is pretty low.
 
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