No, not "Purple." I got the idea for this contest from the latest issue of American Heritage. There's an article (based on a book called The Last Muster) about surviving photographs of people who actually served in the Revolutionary War. It's pretty amazing. So the theme here will be 19th Century photography. People, places, things from anywhere in the world-- the only requirement is that the photo must have been taken in the 1800s. And, no, it doesn't necessarily have to be sepia toned. Oh, and the "no media" rule is lifted for this contest. My entry, from the magazine article, will be Molly Ferris Akin. She was a Quaker woman who was torn between her desire to participate in the Revolution and her dedication to non-violence. When she discovered a hidden camp of Redcoats, she snuck into their camp and fired off a gun to alert the Americans to their presence. Then she snuck away again, never having hurt anyone. Have at it, Historians!
What a coincidence, I am already using an av that qualifies! From Mathew Brady's photo of Lt. General Ulysses Grant in his rumpled campaign uniform at his field headquarters near Cold Harbor in 1864. It was a completely new kind of un-posed, informal, unpretentious and more human portrait of a leader.
This lady was the 19th Century. This was taken by Alexander Bassano at Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.
Shorpy.com is one of my favourite web-sites - heaps and heaps of old photographs scanned and stored. This one is from 1896 and the caption reads: White Plains Station, NV, 1896 This town no longer exists
Bah. If only the Prokudin-Gorskii photos of the Russian Empire had been taken ten years earlier, I could use them. I love those photos... I'll have to think about this one.
I could see him as a Bangable Dude in History, for sure, though he's no Tesla! (Note, this is not an entry, just a display of utter sexiness. Rrrrrrow!)
Here's my entry. I finally got to do it - my favourite philosopher as an avatar, woohoo. Friedrich Nietzsche in 1882:
Remember the poet I used for the 'green'-contest? -well here he is again: He loved being photographed so there was a lot of images to choose from for this contest -- alas I wasn't able to find any data on the one I zeroed in on - too bad the cameras of the day didn't add meta-data to the photographs My entry: He lived from 1805 to 1875 so the time-frame is right and I'm guessing the 'colour' will also be accepted
I'll enter too. I chose a very important man. Here's to you, Chief Sitting Bull: I do not know in which year this particular picture was taken, it was certainly in the 19th century since he died in 1890.