Silver Screen Magazine (April 1951)Often websites with content that consists mainly of a couple of cool daily pictures or two are thought of as being managed by the lazy. Sometimes that is true. More often than not though what is perceived as the hastily posted picture is actually the result of extended periods of research and editing.
Long hours wandering flea markets and swap meets for old magazines and then sitting in front of a keyboard or scanner are required to find nifty pictures for all those disposable posts. Also, many of the online resources for images are posted "as is" and the yellowed, torn or stained pages usually need cleaning up if you are the type who want to regurgitate a cool image and post a unique and interesting scan.
All that work and time spent results in a quick image post on a site or forum that is dismissed by readers during their hit and run newsreader browsing. The "placeholder" image posts are usually part of a cycle of diminishing returns for the blogger. The entries are swiftly forgotten and other than for the love of it, there is little to be gained by the single image post other than to let a reader know the owner of the site hasn't died or lost interest in blogging all together. There are exceptions, of course. Mike Sterling could make a career on posting nothing but images of Chalk Thing, Percy Trout is in a semi-NSFW league by himself, Bully laboriously researches his Ten of a Kind covers and the Fail Blog definition of failure is vague enough that their will always be enough content available for the site.
What was challenging about repairing the Bird of Paradise advertisement poster is that the duo-tone image contains artistic layers of mist that serve to aid a gradual transition through multiple scenes. Interestingly, some of the wear and tear of the ink and paper created effects that unintentionally added to the misty, tropical atmosphere of the poster.
I couldn't tell in a few places where the ink ended and the scuffing began when I cleaned up the image but I'm pleased with the results as the artifacts of damage and age of the the paper added to the overall artistic effects.
The posters of back in the day are just SO COOL.
ReplyDeleteSome might hit and run the blogosphere while others might take the time to read and enjoy our stuff. I guess there's some of everything. It's a real nice poster and it's obvious that it gave you lots of work. Cheers for that!
ReplyDeleteNow, fun fact: It reads technicolor, but the poster is in duo-tone. Heh! Sorry :P
On top of that, it has Louis Jordan, who was also in Swamp Thing.
ReplyDeleteI always appreciate the random pic post. I think it takes more work that just hammering at a keyboard.
Keep up the fantastic work
this is lovely. i always appreciate your restoration work.
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