31 January 2010

James Jowers

Often Tom and I will have discussions that start with something like, "if you could go back and live in any time and place, where would it be?" My answer usually revolves around wearing flapper dresses and dancing the Charleston in speakeasies or hanging out in the Bowery and watching Television and Blondie play CBGB's. James Jowers' photography makes me want to slip a little further into NYC's past. It's the world outside of Don Draper's office window; NYC in the mid-60s, full of hippies and beatniks and possibility. Through Jowers lens it seems like a place where all the rules were off, for better or for worse.

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All photos by James Jowers from the George Eastman House collection.

12 comments:

Fabiola "Fab" said...

These photos make feel goo inside!
Thanks for sharing them!

Sara Bethany said...

I love these photos! Black and white are just best!
My favorite is definitely the one of the couple sitting in the floor playing music. I love everything about that photo! It makes me want to find a man with a cool room like that who will teach me instruments I don't know. :)

AlicePleasance said...

Beautiful!
I would love to go back to CBGB's golden age. I'd love to see the world from INSIDE Don Draper's office too. Well, not only his office indeed ;-)

Unknown said...

WOW! I love this photography! The last picture is the one that caught my attention the most. I think it's because it's raining and everyone is outside enjoying the rain.
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Diane said...

This is absolutely wonderful and beautiful. I would love to be transported into these photographs and just live.

biba_46 said...

I really like this pictures, your style, your clothes, your hair, your blog....xoxo

Anonymous said...

These photos scare me a little! But in a good way. I think the last one in particular reminds me of poems that scare me in a good way. Thank for posting (as always the most superb photos that I would have never found otherwise!)

xo Jenny

Lara said...

I love these photos! It reminds me of many of the black and white photos that my father took in the early 70s of my mother. My parents always make it seem like that time in history was just nothing! But they were smack in the middle of Chicago in a time of complete change! It fathoms me how nonchalant they are about what they saw, heard and experienced.

Vera said...

Oh these photos are awesome! I especially like the first one. There is something special about the relationship people-city in that. Thank you for sharing.

Jessica said...

Charleston and the 1920s would totally be my go-to answer as well. This are really great photos, though. I love the 60s look.

Rachel said...

these photos are wonderful. they make me think of stories my grandparents tell of living in new york when my mom was first born, hanging out with jazz musicians and going to protests (they took my mom to a peace march in washington dc when she was only about a year old).

Lacey Starr said...

I always thought I felt nostalgia for things that never happened to me and I couldn't figure out that strange sensation. It was longing.