June 22, 2007
Photo of the Day: June 22, 2007
How about something a little different today? Flickr user rockcreek has been posting these images from around Washington, D.C., taken mostly between 1900-1910, including this one of some boys drinking from an old water pump in 1903. The whole set is fascinating, like a "new" house on V Street NW for sale for $4000, an 1884 map of Dupont Circle, or even a chain gang working in Potter's Field.
And speaking of getting together to drink, don't forget that our DCist Photographer's Meet-Up is this Sunday. Come join us at 4 p.m. at Warehouse to trade tips and put Flickr names to faces. See you there!
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I find these Flickr posts interesting, as well as DC's history, but this is not his/her own photo and should not really be considered for POTD.
Can I scan in a photo I saw on the cover of the New York Times this morning and submit it to the DCist pool?
Great choice today, Heather. It's a nice change of pace.
I wonder if that's one of the 10%/20%/25%/X% of D.C. hydrants that don't work.
Funny, "Not a Photo", I didn't know there was an International Association for the Regulation of the Rules for Choosing a Photo of the Day. Somebody better call up the Council of Elders and file an motion to have DCist's charter revoked.
Seems to me that it's their feature, so they can put whatever the hell they want up there. It's a photo, it relates to DC, and the person doing the choosing found it particularly interesting today. I think that's pretty much the only relevant criteria. I don't think anyone's ever said that Photo of the Day is strictly a showcase for original photographic work, and it's kind of nice that it's an anything goes space IMHO.
Do you really have nothing more important to do than bitch about things of absolutely no consequence?
I've credited these to the paper of origin and certainly don't consider them my "work" - they're just posted to save other interested folks the trouble of sorting through the papers.
Thanks,
Ryan
A rowhouse at 68 V St. selling for four thousand dollars? I wonder how close it came to selling for that price again in the depths of the Barry years.
Thanks for clearing things up, Tired. I'll start submitting other people's photos to the pool immediately. Maybe even scanned documents and Dilbert cartoons too.
Not a Photo -- Actually, Tired did clear it up:
Seems to me that it's their feature, so they can put whatever the hell they want up there. It's a photo, it relates to DC, and the person doing the choosing found it particularly interesting today. I think that's pretty much the only relevant criteria.
Bingo. So yes, if today's cover of the NYT is a photo that's about DC that most of us aren't going to see, you should totally scan it in and tell us why you found it interesting. (Do I really need to point out that Dilbert cartoons are not photos and rarely, if ever, relevant to DC?)
Ryan found these century old photos that nearly all of us would have never seen, and they show a history of this city that's interesting to a lot of people. There are no "rules" to PotD, but if you use your common sense, you'll get the idea behind it.
We always appreciate constructive criticism and new ideas -- come to our Meet-up if you'd like to share! -- but I really suggest those of you getting so angsty about PotD relax a little bit; it's meant to be a fun, loose feature that's easily skippable if it you hate it.
Heather and DCist must have the patience of a saint. I would have disabled the comments on POTD long ago. I can't believe the idiotic crap that comes out of these complainers over a simple, nice feature, and I'd be much less diplomatic in my responses.
Well, count me in as one of those who looks forward to POTD popping up in the RSS feed every day and is appreciative of the work that goes into sifting through the pool.
I like this choice, and think it's a positive that you don't just blindly choose the most 'technically sound' shot every day.
"Can I scan in a photo I saw on the cover of the New York Times this morning and submit it to the DCist pool?"
I actually agree with the majority of folks who posted -- the 1880s picture is a great and refreshing take.
But just to piss on Nota's original thought a little more: Posting photos of Dilbert or current work done by others (say, anything past 1937-8) is likely a big ol' copyright infringement too.
So there's that. AND stop being a trivial hater already. Yeah.
I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers, Heather. I'll take it from the horse's mouth. Whatever you want the POTD to be, so be it. I was under the impression that this was meant to showcase our local photographers. Something like this, a scan of an old photo, could be posted under something like "A Blast from the Past".
I'm not a hater! I appreciate the POTD....when it's an actual photo. If Flickr user rockcreek was 100+ years old and this was a photo he/she took when they were born, I'd be all for it.
Just my $0.02 - what the comments section is for.
Some folks take POTD and Heather's aesthetics way too seriously.
Although it's not like Heather doesn't have some hangups, e.g., steamed clams. . . [Heather can clear this reference up if she chooses].
Don't worry, it wasn't *my* feathers that were being ruffled. :)
And just to be clear, this actually *is* a photo, and it *was* taken by a local photographer -- it just happens to be a local photographer who worked for the Washington Times in 1903.
Oblivious Dude: You got me on that one.
Judging by the cut of their jib and the distinctive style of their do rags, these teen gangbangers look like the earlier iteration of the notorious O Street Crew. These ruffians were the District's primary laudanum traffikers before the Chinese tongs moved in and setup their opium dens on 9th and Pennsylvania. Their bloody horsedrawn "rideby slayings" are things of legend. The more things change...
Nota- It's an interesting photo of D.C from a local photographer. Unfortunately, unless we dig the photographer up, from the grave, teach him how to scan and upload photos onto flickr, there is no way we would have ever seen this photo in POTD going by your "rules". It's not as though, anywhere, anyone was trying to pass this photograph off as something other than it is- a photograph of Mount Pleasant taken over a century ago, by someone who is no longer alive to share it him/herself... I think it's a fine choice for POTD and you're probably angry because one of your own mediocre shots wasn't chosen.
I love the photo and the entire flickr set actually. They're really interesting photos aesthetically and as historical documents as well. Can't wait to see more! Thanks for posting this.
Monkey,
And for all these years, I thought dear old Grandpa was the only laudanum traffiker on the Eastern seaboard.
Also, important to note, the "rideby sleighings" tended to pick up around Christmas time. Like you said, the more things change...
I, too, love this photo set. I was pleasantly surprised to see a photo of my street, multiple generations old. Props.
Many of the photos were found via the Library of Congress' "Chronicling America" site, BTW:
www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica
Cheers,
Ryan
For more recent, Depression-era, photos of DC, you can search for Washington, DC among the FSA archives:
memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
I personally like the Kodachrome shots.