MonDaily

1920s Photography

MonDaily — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:28:30 +0000

With photographers such as Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand and Edward Weston, Man Ray and André Kertész who in 1925 started his 11 year project of capturing still frames of the street life, and lastly but certainly not least Albert Renger-Patzsch and his “The World Is Beautiful” collection of photos, published in 1928, the 1920s surely have what to show us. For more information about each of these great artists that marked the entire history of photography and not just our selected ten years, click their names.

Below, you will not see their works. Below you will see the 1920s, with an accent on its most famous asset: the flapper.

1920s Dance

MonDaily — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:28:18 +0000

Although with somewhat obscure origins merely being traced back to the town of Charleston, South Carolina, the Charleston Dance surfaced along with James P. Johnson’s song “The Charleston”, sang in the Broadway musical “Runnin’ Wild” [1923].

This dance grew to be very popular among flappers – young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior.

Below you can see five electrifying examples.

1920s Film

MonDaily — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:28:16 +0000

Although the 1920s were largely dominated by silent movies, it was during that period that we saw the introduction of synchronized sound. Movies were, are and undoubtedly always will be an art form with an universal appeal, their essence being that of entertaining. Thus, during that period, they entertained making their contribution to brightening up the world after the ordeals of the First World War.

For the film section of the 1920s issue of MonDaily we have chosen what we regard as being the best 9 movies of the 1920s. Have a different opinion? Feel free to contradict us using the comment form below.

1920s Literature

MonDaily — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:28:13 +0000

Starting from 1920 and all the way to the 31^st of December 1929, was a period of prosperity not only for the economy but also for the art of words, for literature, with a lot of today’s literary masterpieces being opened for the first time during this decade.

Among the authors that published their works during this period is James Joyce. His novel, “Ulysses” [1922] is considered to be one of the most important works of Modernist literature, was published in its full form in 1922. Virginia Woolf having published four novels “Jacob’s Room” [1922], “Mrs. Dalloway” [1925], “To the Lighthouse” [1927] and “Orlando” [1928] and one essay “A Room of One’s Own” [1929] between 1922 and 1929. Hermann Hesse publishes “Siddhartha” [1922] in German for the first time in 1922, to be published almost three decades later in English. Also in this period André Breton’s “Surrealist Manifesto” was published, in 1924 to be more exact. D.H. Lawrence publishes “Women in Love” [1920], and “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” [1928]. ”The Trial” [1925], one of Franz Kafka’s best works is published in the middle of the 1920s. Ernest Hemingway publishes his first major novel, “The Sun Also Rises” [1926] in 1926 and only three years later “A Farewell to Arms” [1929] sees its first light.

17th Issue: 1920s

MonDaily — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:28:12 +0000

Historically speaking, the 1920s could be considered the age of rebirth for the European continent thanks to the economic boom following the First World War, being called “The Golden Twenties”. But this issue will not regard this certain period from a historian’s perspective, dissecting the political or economical events like the rise of fascism or a equal treatment for sexual minorities. No. This issue will be about the “Roaring Twenties”, “The Jazz Age”.

Roaring? Well, yes. “Roaring” seems to be the best word to describe that period so well remembered for its specific music and dances.

Along with these arts, the 1920s will be forever remembered as the period when many novels that will later be considered masterpieces of words have been published. From D.H. Lawrence to James Joyce, from Kafka to Hesse, and others more have chosen this period to share their works with the rest of the world.

Cinematography will never be the same again after this period and all because of the first “talkie” that was screened in April 1923 in New York City. Yes, the sound film. And everything did change, ever since that moment following that April evening, cinematography started making its way to what we regard it to be today.

The Charleston by James P. Johnson, the rhythm of the decade. Just watching someone do this dance in front of you and you will jump right on your feet and start dancing yourself, not caring about how good you are or what others might think. You’re dancing. The Charleston.

Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and many many more have animated these ten wonderful years with their music. What music? Jazz music, of course. It was they and all the others jazz bands and singers of that time that have given these years the name “The Jazz Age” and for that we shall forever be grateful to their genius and talent.

And we can see all these wonders in stills through photos of that age. These photos have the immense power of transposing you in those times by simply looking at them. From flapper girls to ball rooms filled of people dancing, to unions and a prospering working class, photos have memorized the 1920s in their smallest details so that we, today, can recall those times and relive them.

Well that’s that with the introduction. Below you can check out our choices for this issue in these five domains. Enjoy!

1920s Music

MonDaily — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:28:10 +0000

What other genre of music could be listened to in a period called “The Jazz Age” other than the beautiful, melodic and so rhymed jazz music!

Our choices for the Music section of our 1920s are the songs of two artists that have left a profound mark upon that age, Louis Armstrong and Earl Hine and the most influential jazz band of the period, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings.

Happy Birthday Damien Rice

MonDaily — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:48:15 +0000

Today is the first day of Damien Rice’s 37th year in this world. Born in 1973, the Irish singer, songwriter, the Irish artists has constantly brought joy to the lives of those he or his music had encountered. He is very known across the world for his involvement in charity works. With songs like “The Blower’s Daughter”, “9 Crimes” and certainly not least “Unplayed Piano” he will always be regarded as one of the best, despite the fact that his best chart position was a fourth place in Ireland with Unplayed Piano and a 19th place in the UK with Cannonball.

Another thing that we simply must add to this post is the effect Damien’s music has on the movies that use his songs as soundtracks. For instance, Closer, starring Julia Roberts and Jude Law, the entire action of Mike Nichols’ movie takes place while Damien’s “Blower’s Daughter” and the setting and overall feeling is simply outstanding.

Happy Birthday Damien Rice and continue spreading your music alongside your good deeds to those that deserve it. We thank you all!

The Day of the Composers

MonDaily — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:00:18 +0000

Above you can see a timeline of the five composers that were born today, the 7th of December, hundreds of year apart. Bernardo Pasquini, Pietro Mascagni, Rudolf Friml, Ernst Toch and Daniel Jones are five names that deserve to be remembered over the years because of their talent and their art, despite the fact that they are not as known as some other composers of their time. For that, today is their day, The Day of the Five Composers.

16th Issue: Gothic

MonDaily — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:54:38 +0000

Although nowadays, because of the prejudice that has taken over our thoughts, we associate the word “gothic” with a different taste in fashion, dark colors, even occult rituals related to people that are because of this, treated as outcasts, gothic is an art style, a music genre, a literary genre, an architectural style and lastly a subculture.

This preconception of this style is mainly due to the Goth subculture that appeared as an offshoot of the post-punk genre. Because of a different taste in fashion and overall appearance of its followers, lots of controversies have risen towards this subculture. Mass media influenced people and made this preconception appear according to which Goths are malicious, having committed violent crimes.

One major event that has added to this antipathy towards Goth is the Columbine High School massacre that was committed by two students incorrectly regarded as being followers of the Goth subculture.

Regardless of the way the adepts of the Goth subculture are perceived, the gothic art should be admired and respected as during its years of glory some of the world’s most known buildings have been built in the gothic architectural style, buildings as Westminster Abbey, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Cathedral of Milan, some of the world’s greatest writers wrote in this genre, writers as Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Bronte, Oscar Wilde and many others. Its influences have remained vibrant till our days being portrayed in more contemporary forms as photography and cinematography as well.

Although, in the making of this issue we have been faced with a few preconceptions as well, we can truly and most sincerely state that now we have gotten our facts straight and we feel obliged to apologize towards whoever might have felt offended by these prejudices and we can accept, respect and admire anything related to this, starting from its initial form and all the way to the contemporary subculture whose followers can be seen all over Europe today.

With this being said, we let you see what we have chosen for this week’s issue in the domains below. Enjoy!

Gothic Photography

MonDaily — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:54:23 +0000

For the photography section of our gothic themed issue we have chosen portraits of females, created in such a manner that makes them truly worthy of their assigned category: gothic.

To add to our selections for this section, we have decided to share with you a Flickr Group dedicated entirely to this genre of photography. With more than four hundred works added so far, from 58 members, it is certainly a resource that should be kept in mind when interested in this subject. The group is called exactly like our article: Gothic Photography.