Etheldreda Laing

Janet Laing in kimono c. 1914. Source: Getty

Iris Laing (left), aged around 11, and her sister Janet, aged around 16 c. 1914. Source: Getty

Iris Laing around age 7 c. 1910. Source: Getty

The Telegraph had a piece on Etheldreda Laing, an amateur photographer who started taking colour (Autochrome) photographs back in 1908.  Unfortunately, the Telegraph doesn't really do galleries...or full size images.*  These are excerpted instead from the slideshow (of 19) here: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/etheldreda-laing.  Not bad for a hundred years ago.


* One other thing the Telegraph doesn't do is check their links. 'www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk%29', Really DT ?  One-click, that's all it takes.

Israel in Colour by British Pathé

Interesting time-capsules in these videos, including in the way Israel was portrayed by British Pathé back in the 'fifties & 'sixties.  Keeping in mind that Israel during much of this period was more political ally of the UK & France than of the United States.  There's a more than somewhat touristy if not propagandistic tone to many of the videos, but always cool to see a window into the past.  And in colour no-less.  Hell, most British teevee was still in black-and-white till the seventies.

Last line of the last video, from '69: 'They hope for peace.  The tragedy is, can it be achieved ?'  Well...

Melys: Achilles Heel

So in recent news, people's perception of colour varies (and many people's monitors are incorrectly calibrated), and some llamas escaped.  Oh, and the Federal Communications Commission had some trivial ruling or other.  Oh and those naughty naughty tricksters ISIS engaged in an act of minor vandalism in Iraq.  Oh, and surprisingly Russia still has an opposition, given that an opposition leader was gunned down near the Kremlin.  But don't worry, the Russian government has assured us that Vladimir Putin (the er, chief suspect in most people's mind) is going to personally head the investigation, after a few months of which some Chechen separatist or Ukrainian fascist will presumbably be charged with the crime (and die in custody days or weeks later), unless relations with the West deteriorate even further in which case, it will turn out to be a plot by SIS or the CIA.