by Public Domain Archive | Feb 14, 2014 | Vintage
The Eiffel Tower is a magnificent display of beauty and always evokes an emotion of romance. Since it is Valentine’s Day I thought it would be cool to post some public domain images of the Eiffel Tower, specifically some of the harder to find higher resolution images. And to go along with these awesome images, the story of how the Eiffel Tower (“Tour Eiffel” in French) came to be. Interesting to note is the fact that the tower was only supposed to stand for 20 years before being torn down. It was erected for the World Exhibition (also known as the Paris Exposition of 1889) commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the French Revolution in Europe. Overcoming the Objections From the Neigh-sayers All throughout France, many engineers and designers submitted designs and ideas for new ways to improve France. Of the many ideas, Gustave Eiffel’s design of the Eiffel Tower caught the most attention and was ultimately chosen to represent Frances independence from the rule of dictatorship 100 years earlier. But his project triggered on outrageous reactions. The competing projects were much more classical. Its detractors thought that the iron tower built in the center of such a wonderful city would be horrid. Well known artists at the time, musicians, writers like Guy de Maupassant, architects such as Charles Ganier, the architect of the Opera Garnier, wrote an article published in the newspaper “Le Temps”, famous paper at the time,to protest against the building of this”obnoxious, vile, awful tower”. Eventually Eiffel ’s project got the upper hand. Gustave Eiffel convinced the jury that iron was the appropriate material for his tower, not only...
by Public Domain Archive | Feb 10, 2014 | Vintage
Here is an gallery of public domain images from the New South Wales Police Department that were taken in the 1920′s. This special photograph selection were mostly taken at the Central Police Station, Sydney and compared with the subjects of typical prison mug shots, the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed to compose themselves for the camera as they wanted. These public domain images reveal a lot more than a typical mugshot. The suspects poses look as if they could be from a fashion magazine. Most look disheveled and deranged, but some look very guilty. Their hand in pockets, hats tipped to the side, and their eyes scowling at the camera. They look like movie characters from a Dick Tracey film, with the crime they committed still fresh on their mind. Major exhibitions featuring these public domain images have travelled widely, including “Crime Scene” and “Femme Fatale” and two books have been produced “City of Shadows” and “Crooks Like Us“by Peter Doyle. As always these photos are considered public domain images and you can download them and use them for your projects without and licensing fees limitations or restrictions....
