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Medford, Mass., circa 1977. Marion Street about 2 a.m. around the corner from my house. It was fall and the leaves were just turning over a Pinto wagon with fake wood paneling. I took this for a class at the New England School of Photography. The exposure was about a minute with a 4x5 view camera. The wind hardly moved. It was a truly beautiful timeless moment. View full size.
The 1970s was a good time to be a kid.
I lived in a neighborhood like this in New Haven in the 70s. Like so many others, I find this photo releases a flood of memories. Beautiful work.
Like another poster, I was raised in Queens -- Middle Village, New York. I grew up in the 1970s and, like many teenagers in quiet towns, loved to take long walks at night. That photo could have been taken during one of my wanderings. Something about the quiet, and the quality of light, the sense of awareness in a sleeping town. It's a very evocative photo, not just because of my deeply personal reasons for loving it. I'm also deeply appreciative of your previous, gas station photo.
For some reason, there has not been a nostalgia for the 70s as evinced for that of the 30s through the 60s -- even the 80s! However, there was a quality to the 70s, perhaps a sense of the nation collectively catching its breath after the turbulent 60s, that was quite special.
This photograph is Literature.
It goes without saying that this magnificent photo depicts the cool serenity of a New England autumn night with everyone asleep except for perhaps a lone dog barking at the sound of the photographer. Tomorrow must be trash day as most residents remembered to put their garbage on the curb for early pickup. I wonder if the mattress and box spring left for disposal came from the Texas Mattress Co. we saw just last week (Nah! It would be 38 years old, not to mention the long commute).
I grew up in a section of Queens, NYC named Woodhaven - and it was. Your shot perfectly captures the tone of curfew-dodging walks home from Forest Park, hand in hand, the utter stillness of those nights on which we didn't even speak loudly out of respect for those in bed. Her name was Christine.
when looking at this photo, and your previous one, not to see the link for "Buy Fine-Art Print"!
The tone of the leaves in the trees almost make it look as if they were photographed with B&W Infrared film.
My friend had a Pinto back in the late 1970s. She had a bumper-sticker on it that said "INFLAMMABLE".
Wow, interesting photos, Rizzman.
You've got a good-eye...please keep them coming.
Hope you're documenting this Century for the 'Shorpy-Type' viewers of the future.
Without the automobiles, this image could just as well have been taken months ago in any older northeastern neighborhood. Which speaks of the image quality of the photo. But the cars help to date this photo precisely.
This was a time that in retrospect was much simpler, though it didn't seem so at the time.
No, not really--I am in Oregon. However, our neighbors have that exact same model Pinto, down to the "genuine faux wood" on the sides!
Really nice! This makes me want to dig out some of my 4x5 negs that I shot back in the early 70's. Still have the camera too. Sometimes I hear it calling to me from the closet saying, "take me out tonight," but just as I reach for the case it adds, "and get me a digital back while you're at it."
Rizzman, this photo, and the previous We're the Nuts: 1970s, are fantastic both for their technical expertise as well as for genuinely capturing the feeling of an era and place.
Before even reading the caption, I sensed this photo was New England - In my experience, multifamily houses with two-story screened porches are a Northeast phenomena. This architecture could be from Boston, Providence or New Haven and I am hardly surprised to read it is Medford. My grandparents owned a similar house and the second-story front screened porch was my favorite place to play, as well as my grandfather's favorite place to smoke a stogie.
A Pinto Squire wagon with faux wood-grain siding - what could be more emblematic of the 70s?
The street looks so peaceful.
I love this. If I could climb into that photo, I would.
Thanks rizzman1953 for another great photo.
I bet the police were not amused.
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