Posters have been around for hundreds of years. They have been used
for many purposes including promoting products, events patriotism and
movie stars. More recently they have become a popular art form,
remembering posters of the past and historic photographs. This is a
collection of 10 images commonly seen in a poster format, along with
what I hope will be some interesting behind the scene information.
10. Lunch at top a Skyscraper
I have always suspected that this was a fake or manipulated photo,
but it’s the real thing. The legendary photograph was taken by daredevil
photographer Charles Ebbets, on September 29, 1932. The photo shows 11
workers having a lunch break on the 69th floor of the RCA Building (now
the GE Building) in New York, during the last months of construction.
Most of the men have now been identified by family members. The men at
the extreme left and extreme right are Matty O’Shaughnessy and Patrick
(Sonny) Glynn, both from County Galway, Ireland. The two emigrants had
left Shaneaglish in Galway in the 1920s destined for a new life in
America. The man sitting fourth from the right is Francis Michael
Rafferty and to his right is his lifelong best friend Stretch Donahue.
On the same day Ebbets took another photo of the same workers called Men
Asleep on a Girder, which shows the same workers napping on the beam.
You can see it here.
Interesting Fact: The photo credit on posters was listed as ‘Unknown’
for many years. The copyright owner of the photograph did not recognize
Charles C. Ebbets as the photographer until 2003, after months of
investigation by a private investigation firm. The photo has also been
frequently miss-attributed to Lewis Hine whose photographs documented
the construction of the Empire State Building, in 1931.
9. We Can Do It!
This poster was created by American graphic artist. J. Howard Miller.
In 1941, Miller’s work came to the attention of the Westinghouse
Company and he was hired to create a series of posters to sponsor the
company’s War Production Coordinating Committee. This poster is commonly
called Rosie the Riveter, however at the time of the poster’s release
that name wasn’t associated with the picture. That came a year later
later when a popular patriotic song called “Rosie the Riveter came out.
The poster became a symbol for women who produced war supplies and took
new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military. Miller
based the “We Can Do It!” poster on a United Press International picture
taken of Geraldine Doyle working at a factory. Ironically, Doyle only
lasted two weeks on the job before quitting because she feared a hand
injury would prevent her from playing her cello. The poster did not
become widely known until the 1970s and 80s when it began to be used by
advocates of women’s equality in the workplace
Interesting Fact: Geraldine Doyle, who was the inspiration behind the
now famous poster, died last year at the age 86. Doyle didn’t know she
was the model for the poster until 1984, when she came across an article
in Modern Maturity magazine, now known as AARP, which linked a photo of
her to the poster. You can see the photo here.
8. Farrah Fawcett
When this photo was taken, Fawcett was still an unknown actress. She
had not yet signed on for the hit show Charlie’s Angels, but got some
work doing commercials. Her agents wanted a bikini shot of Fawcett and
hired freelance photographer Bruce McBroom, who had worked with her
before. The shot was taken by a pool at Fawcett’s Bel Air, California,
home where she and her husband at the time, actor Lee Majors lived.
According to a friend, Fawcett styled her own hair and did her make-up
without the aid of a mirror. She heightened her blonde highlights with
lemon juice. McBroom used an old Indian Blanket covering his car seat as
a backdrop. She tried on several swimsuits, but when Fawcett finally
tried on a red one-piece to cover a childhood scar on her stomach,
McBroom knew he had something special. Fawcett selected her six favorite
pictures out of 40 rolls of film eventually narrowing her choice to the
now famous picture. The 1976 poster of Farrah Fawcett sold a
Record-breaking 12 million copies.
Interesting Fact: This year on February 2nd, which would have been
Farrah Fawcett’s 64th birthday, the family donated several items to the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, including the
infamous red bathing suit she wore in the famous pin up poster.
7. Lord Kitchener Wants You
This famous recruitment poster depicting Secretary of State for War,
Lord Kitchener, first appeared on September 5th, 1914, on the cover of
the London Opinion. During that month the country had its highest number
of volunteers. The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee later obtained
permission to use the design in a poster format. Kitchener organized the
largest volunteer army that the UK had ever seen to fight Germany on
the Western Front. In 1916, Lord Kitchener died when the warship taking
him to negotiations in Russia was sunk by a German mine. After his
death, Kitchener was often dismissed as a great poster but not a great
administrator. However, after new records were opened, many historians
now praise his strategic vision, especially for laying the groundwork
for the expansion of munitions production and his central role in
expanding the British army.
Interesting Fact: The poster became the inspiration for the legendary
Uncle Sam “I Want You For The US Army” poster, which America used in
both World War I and II. It also inspired the famous Smokey the Bear
“Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires” Poster.
6. Tennis Girl
This famous poster is simply called Tennis Girl, and was taken by
Martin Elliot, in 1976. When the poster first went on sale it sold more
than two million copies. Most likely most were bought by young teenage
boys. The photo shows 18 year-old art student Fiona Butler, who was
Elliot’s girlfriend at the time, at the Birmingham University courts at
Edgbaston. Fiona did not play tennis regularly, and had to borrow the
dress and racket from a friend. She wore her father’s plimsolls (early
training shoes), and used her dog’s tennis balls to scatter around the
court. Elliot then persuaded her to let him take a shot of her hitching
up her dress to reveal her bare bottom. Elliott sold the image rights to
the poster company Athena, but retained the copyright and earned an
estimated £250,000 in royalty payments. Fiona Butler did not receive any
money from the poster.
Interesting Fact: This year, after more than 30 years and numerous
refusals to pose again, Fiona decided to come forward to promote an
exhibition on lawn tennis as a subject in art, which will be held at
Birmingham’s Barber Institute of Fine Arts this summer. She believes her
picture has earned a place in the history of tennis. Fiona is now a 52
year old mother of three, and is married to a wealthy business man. She
has no regrets about posing for the photo, even though she has never
earned a penny from it. Photographer Martin Elliot died last year at the
age of 63. You can see what Fiona looks like today as she stands next
to her famous poster here.
5. Albert Einstein
This famous photo and popular poster of Albert Einstein was taken
March 14, 1951, by UPI photographer Arthur Sasse. After an event at
Princeton to honor Einstein on his 72nd birthday, Sasse and other
photographers were desperately trying to convince Einstein to smile for
the camera. Einstein was in a car returning from the event and was tired
of smiling all day. When the photographers didn’t let him alone he is
said to have shouted: “That’s enough, that’s enough!” When these words
didn’t deter the photographers, the reaction they received was even
better. The photo became one of the most popular photos ever taken of
Einstein.
Interesting Fact: Einstein liked the picture so much that he cropped
it so only his face could be seen. Then he made several copies of it and
sent the picture in greeting cards to friends. The original picture
shows Einstein sitting in the backseat of a car between Dr Frank
Aydelotte, the former head of the Institute for Advanced Study, and his
wife. You can see the original photo here.
4. American Girl in Italy
Many will recognize this poster from seeing it in pizza joints around
the world. It was taken by American photographer Ruth Orkin, in 1951.
Orkin went to Israel on a photo assignment for Life Magazine and from
there went to Florence Italy and met artist and fellow American Jinx
Allen (now known as Ninalee Craig). The two talked about their shared
experiences traveling alone as young single women. Orkin then thought it
would be interesting to take pictures of what it’s really like. She
titled the series of photographs “Don’t Be Afraid to Travel Alone” Orkin
photographed Allan shopping in the markets, crossing traffic, riding a
carriage and flirting at a cafe. After Orkin saw Allan walking in the
city square and being ogled by men, she asked her to walk through again.
She took just two pictures resulting in the now famous photo. Ruth
Orkin died of cancer in 1985, at the age of 63.
Interesting Fact: The woman in the photo, Ninalee Craig, is reported
as saying “I clutched my shawl to me because that sheaths the body; it
was my protection, my shield. I was walking through a sea of men.” Today
Craig admits, “I was enjoying every minute of it. They were Italian and
I love Italians.” This year marks the 60th anniversary of the
photograph. You can see Ninalee Craig standing in front of her poster here.
3. Kiss by the Hotel de Ville
In 1950, Life Magazine asked French photographer Robert Doisneau to
do a photo spread about Paris lovers. After spotting a couple kissing,
he approached them and asked them if they wouldn’t mind kissing again
for the camera. Françoise Delbart, 20, and Jacques Carteaud, 23, were
both aspiring actors and were taken to three different places. First
Doisneau took some pictures on the Place de la Concorde, then on the Rue
de Rivoli, and finally the Hôtel de Ville. After the picture appeared
in Life magazine it was forgotten for more than 30 years, and stayed in
the archives of the photo agency where Doisneau worked. It was
eventually snapped up by a poster company and became one of the world’s
best selling posters. Because of the posters success, many people made
false claims as to being the kissing couple. In 1993, a couple took
Doisneau to court demanding compensation for taking the picture without
their knowledge. The lawsuit forced Doisneau to admit that the shot
wasn’t spontaneous, and he had used models for the picture. With this
admission, the lawsuit was dismissed. After more than 40 years in
obscurity, Françoise Delbart, (now Mrs Bornet) came forward with the
original print, which bears the photographer’s authentic signature and
stamp that Doisneau sent her just a few days after the shoot.
Interesting Fact: Less than a year after the picture was taken, the
couple broke up. Francoise married Alain Bornet, a documentary and
promotional filmmaker. Jacques Carteaud became a winegrower in the South
of France until his death, in 2004. Robert Doisneau continued as a
freelance photographer, until he died in 1994, two weeks shy of his 82nd
birthday. In 2005, Françoise Bornet put the original print up for
auction. She expected to receive about $25,000 for it. The winning bid
was 155,000 Euros. (More than $200,000) You can see her in 2005 holding
up the famous image here.
2. Che Guevara
Interesting Fact: Because of what he called “crass commercial”
utilization of the image, Fitzpatrick announced this year that he
intended to copyright the image. He initially released it copyright-free
for intended use among revolutionary groups in Europe. He plans to hand
over the copyright to the Guevara family.
1. Ali – Liston
This photograph and popular poster was taken by Sports Illustrated
photographer Neil Leifer, who is considered one of the world’s best
sports photographers. This particular photo has an extra interesting
fact about it so I put it at the number one spot. On May 25, 1965, in
Lewiston, Maine, Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston faced off for the second
time. Ali (then Cassius Clay) won the first fight the previous year. The
ending of the second fight remains one of the most controversial in
boxing history. Half way through the first round, Liston fell to the
canvas, which many believe was not a legitimate knockdown. Ali then
refused to go to a neutral corner. Instead, Ali stood over Liston,
gesturing and yelling at him, “Get up and fight, sucker!” It was then
when Liefer snapped the now iconic photo.
Interesting Fact: Liefer said he was lucky to get the shot because he
was in the right place. Sports Illustrated often sent out two
photographers to cover boxing matches. For this match they assigned
Leifer and Herb Scharfman, who was also one of the best. Leifer said
this about Scharfman in an interview; “It didn’t make a difference how
good he was, he was obviously in the wrong seat.” Herb Scharfman is the
photographer that can be seen between Ali’s legs in the famous photo.
From 1963 to 1972, Scharfman’s photos appeared on the cover of Sports
Illustrated fourteen times. May 25, 1965, just wasn’t his night.
source : http://listverse.com/2011/06/21/10-interesting-facts-behind-popular-posters/
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