Posts Tagged ‘scan to digital’

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Rare ‘Blade Runner’ Book Scanned To Digital

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Book Shows Concept Art Behind Film’s Influential Aesthetic

Digital Scans Available Free Online, 30 Years After Book’s Publication

Based on Philip K. Dick’s dystopian novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, the seminal science fiction film “Blade Runner” forever changed the way we envision the future. Since its release in 1982, “Blade Runner” has helped define our goals and fears for a future society, and has lent a sense of concreteness to our conceptions of what the future may look like. In popular film, very few movies (1989’s Back to the Future Part II comes to mind) have made so lasting impression on our idea of what the future may hold in terms of technology and social constructs. Stars Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young were memorable in their portrayals of their characters, but it was the setting of a post-modern apocalyptic Los Angeles of 2019 that gave the film such staggering impact.

In the film, genetically engineered organic robots called replicants, which are sentient and look just like humans, serve various purposes on Earth’s off-world colonies but are banned on the planet itself. Replicants who ignore the ban are hunted and destroyed by “Blade Runners,” a team of special ops policemen. Expert Blade Runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is ready for retirement, but agrees to one final assignment in hunting down a brutal and cunning group of recently escaped replicants hiding out in Los Angeles.

The film’s visuals were created by a team of visionaries, including director Ridley Scott, designer Syd Mead, and effects specialist Douglas Trumbull. The influence of the aesthetic they created was so profound that many elements of the film’s visuals still pop up in movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, and more. This elaborate creation included cyberpunks, flying cars, and a crumbling urban backdrop that now has both retro and futuristic sensibilities. When the film was released, a limited edition Blade Runner Sketchbook was published to document the entire visual concept of the movie. This rare book can occasionally be found online, selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But now the entire book has been scanned to digital and published online, allowing the whole world to see how the aesthetic of “Blade Runner” was created 30 years ago. Best of all, the digital scans of the book can be accessed for free, courtesy of a leading digital publishing platform called Issuu.

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Pioneering Photojournalist Eve Arnold Dies At 99

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Photojournalist Eve Arnold Was Known For Candid Images Of People

Arnold Captured Celebrities And Unknowns All Over The World

Pioneering photojournalist Eve Arnold, renowned for her exceptional photographs of people both famous and unknown, has died at the age of 99. Perhaps best known for her candid shots of Hollywood celebrities in both formal and informal settings, Arnold was one of the first woman photojournalists to join the prestigious Magnum Photography Agency in the 1950s. Magnum announced that Arnold died Wednesday, January 4th, at a London nursing home. The photo above, which was scanned to digital by Magnum, shows Arnold at work in 1963.

Arnold began her long and celebrated career with Magnum on a freelance basis in 1951, when woman journalists were very uncommon. She later became a full member of the group in 1957. She traveled the world for her work, navigating distant countries and cultures from Dubai to Mongolia. She photographed horse trainers, factory workers, harem women – anyone and everyone became fascinating subjects through her lens. Arnold’s photo essays were compiled into many books, though most were first published in feature news magazines.

Los Angeles gallery owner Stephen White said that Eve was more than just “a very good photographer.” She was also “socially significant,” said White, “as one of a group of women photographers who emerged after World War II.” Arnold was one of only two female photographers to join the Magnum Photography Agency during that period; the other was Inge Morath, who joined Magnum as a full member in 1955. “Magnum was a macho culture when Eve started there,” said Mary Panzer, former curator of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. “She had the determination to stay.”

Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa, considered the greatest reportage photographers of the time, were two of the agency’s founding members. In her momoir, “Eve Arnold: In Retrospect” (1995), Arnold recalls studying Cartier-Bresson’s images to learn how to tell a story in a single photograph, and pouring over the work of others to learn how each photographer approached an assignment. “I began to haunt the files at Magnum,” she wrote.

In the mid 1950s, Arnold began to specialize in photographing Hollywood stars, such as Marilyn Monroe, using a raw photojournalistic approach rather than one of polished poses, fake settings, and fabricated moments. “Marilyn liked my photographs,” said Arnold in an interview for “Film Journal” magazine, “and was canny enough to realize that they were a fresh approach for presenting her – a looser, more intimate look than the posed studio portraits she was used to in Hollywood.” Arnold also photographed stars Joan Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as important historical figures such as Malcolm X.

Arnold is survived by her son Francis and three grandchildren.

To see a collection of Eve Arnold’s photos that have been scanned to digital by Magnum, visit Magnum Photos.

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USC Libraries Amass World’s Largest Collection Of Digital Images Documenting SoCal History

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

USC Digital Library Represents Collaboration Among Historical Societies,

Newspapers, And More

Organizations Work Together For Preservation And Accessibility

The photo seen here was taken at the 1951 tree lighting ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and scanned to digital for inclusion in the University of Southern California’s vast Digital Library. The USC library system has set out to “select, collect, preserve, and make accessible” an enormous collection of unique materials, including high resolution digital photographs, oral histories and sound recordings, moving images, maps, documents, physical objects, and more. This wealth of media is organized within the USC Digital Library, which includes metadata to support research. The digital collection helps fulfill the university’s mission to provide an online gateway to research resources about Los Angeles and Southern California.

Some of the high quality digital images accessible from the USC Digital Library website are “on loan” from collaborating institutions that have agreed to share their collections. Together these institutions have contributed to the creation of the largest and most valuable archival collection of digital media related to the history and culture of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. The USC Digital Library provides a powerful infrastructure to create the host environment for these collaborators, all of which benefit from working toward the common goals of preservation and accessibility. The digital collections comprise a host of materials from the USC Libraries, as well as from various historical societies, other libraries, newspapers, and other organizations with rich collections of historical artifacts relating to the Southern California, the Western United States, and the Pacific Rim. Particular emphasis has been placed on artifacts from these regions, though the collections are by no means limited to this part of the country.

The USC Digital Library spans a wide range of media, including audio and video recordings, but visual media compose the bulk of the collection. The digital archive includes thousands of photographs, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, posters, prints, maps, rare illustrated books, and more – all scanned to digital at high resolution to capture every detail. The USC Digital Library continues to grow as navigation is enhanced and the collections evolve.

Visit the USC Digital Library to explore this amazing collection.

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Broadway Photographer Leo Friedman Dies

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Leo Friedman Dies At 92

Broadway Photographer Was Known For Capturing Movement In Still Photos

Photographer Leo Friedman, who made his career capturing Broadway stars in action during the golden age of the 1950s and 1960s, has died. He was 92. The photo seen here, which was scanned to digital by the New York Times, is one of Friedman’s most famous snapshots. It depicts the effervescent Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert as lovebirds Tony and Maria in “West Side Story.” Taken on a street near Friedman’s New York studio, the photo became the enduring emblem of the musical after having been chosen to appear on the covers of the playbill and original cast recording. It remains a signature image of Friedman’s impressive career.

Friedman’s career was at its height during the peak period of Broadway glamour. The 1950s and 1960s were also significant in the history of photography, as the expanded professional use of 35 millimeter photography allowed photographers to capture a sense of motion in their still pictures. Friedman was a ubiquitous presence in and around New York theaters during this time, photographing more than 800 shows including “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret,” “My Fair Lady,” and more. His photos show Lucille Ball marching with a bass drum in “Wildcat,” Laurence Olivier hoofing in “The Entertainer,” and Barbra Streisand making her Broadway debut in “I Can Get It for You Wholesale.” Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Bob Fosse, Sammy Davis Jr., and Lena Horne were just a few of the stars immortalized on stage by Friedman’s uniquely in-the-moment photographs.

As a freelance photographer, Friedman made it his specialty to capture actors in motion, both in rehearsal and during performance. He was hired by all the top magazines and newspapers, press agents, and producers, all of whom appreciated his ability to depict the movement of acting. When hired by a producer to take official photographs of a show, he would photograph a show scene by scene, but going backward from the end after a full performance. Friedman often attributed his success to his ability to work with high-maintenance stars. Many stars, such as Katharine Hepburn, developed personal friendships with Friedman after working with him professionally.

To see a gallery of Leo Friedman’s photos that have been scanned to digital by the New York Times, go to LA Times.

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Los Angeles Times Celebrates 130 Years In Photos

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

New Digital L.A. Times Photo Gallery Documents Over A Century In Pictures

Gallery Also Includes Historical Front Pages

The powerful and tragic photo seen here shows a Hermosa Beach couple in 1955, just moments after learning that their 19-month-old child had been swept out to sea. Los Angeles Times photographer Jack Gaunt won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for press photography for capturing this image, which the Pulitzer committee described as “poignant and profoundly moving.” Gaunt was at his beachfront home that morning, when a neighbor shouted “Something’s happening on the beach!” The photographer instinctively grabbed his Rolliflex camera and sprinted to the water’s edge, where he captured the haunting image even before knowing what was transpiring. The photo appeared on the front page of The Times on the following morning. In Gaunt’s 2007 Times Obituary, his daughter recalled that this image, which won Gaunt so much acclaim, was hard to bear for the famed photographer.

Gaunt was one of many notable photographers to work for the Los Angeles Times during its 130 years (and counting) in print. Other Pulitzer Prize winners include Clarence Williams (1998), Don Bartletti (2003), Carolyn Cole (2004), and Barbara Davidson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography this year. Although not present at the paper’s inception in 1881, photography quickly became an integral part of the Times experience. Now celebrating its 130th anniversary, the Los Angeles Times is recognizing its rich history with a new gallery of historical photos which have been scanned to digital for all to enjoy on the Times website. The times notes that “the nature of news and photography has moved from the printing press and darkroom to the digital frontier,” and plans to join the two media to celebrate more than a century’s worth of images of significant events in the region’s history.

This digital gallery offers a glimpse of Southern California history as it developed, documenting “the opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the rise of Hollywood, natural disasters, wars, the political careers of presidents and deaths of notable figures.” These images were captured by some of the most acclaimed photographers in the history of journalism. The gallery also includes some of the most memorable front pages in Times history, scanned to digital in high resolution. See how the world read about the sinking of the Titanic, the end of World War I and World War II, and other world-changing events.

To see this remarkable collection of images, visit LA Times.

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Natalie Wood Death Investigation Reopened

Monday, November 28th, 2011

30 Years Later, Mysterious Death Of Natalie Wood Reexamined

LA County Sheriffs Aim To Verify Or Overturn Original Ruling Of Accidental Death

The photo seen here (which was taken by photographer Tom Wargacki, and scanned to digital by WireImage) shows actress Natalie Wood with her once-and-future husband, actor Robert Wagner, at the premiere of “The Godfather” in London on August 9, 1972. Nine years later, Wood would die in what was then deemed an accident off Santa Catalina Island. She was 43.

Now, 30 years after her dead, Natalie Wood is back in the spotlight as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has announced that the investigation into Wood’s drowning has been reopened. One of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries may be receiving a new – and perhaps final – chapter. It was Thanksgiving weekend of 1981 when Wood went boating off the island with husband Robert Wagner and fellow actor Christopher Walken, on the couple’s 60-foot yacht, named “Splendour.” Somehow, Wood went overboard and drowned. Details remain somewhat unclear. At the time, investigating officials ruled that Wood’s was an accidental death, but there has always been speculation that there was more to the story. Sheriff Lee Baca told the Los Angeles Times that detectives from his department would be questioning the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern, who recently “made comments worthy of exploring” about what happened aboard his boat. According to another law enforcement source, the Sheriff’s Department recently received a communication from a “third party” (who wished to remain anonymous) suggesting that the Captain Davern had “new recollections” that could prove valuable. Davern co-wrote the book “Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour” in 2010. The book described acrimonious arguments which allegedly took place aboard the boat. Last year Davern also told CNN that the original investigation was “woefully incomplete” in his estimation.

Robert Wagner released a statement in support of the new investigation, via spokesman Alan Nierob. Nierob said that Wagner “trusts they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death.”

To see more Natalie Wood photos that have been scanned to digital by the Los Angeles Times, go to LaTimes.

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Richard Nixon’s Grand Jury Testimony Released

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Former President Nixon’s 1975 Watergate Testimony Released

America Hears Nixon’s Side Of The Story

In the photo shown here, which was scanned to digital by the Associated Press, President Richard Nixon points to the transcripts of the White House tapes. The date was April 29, 1974. Three and a half months later, Nixon would resign. And about 7 months after that, Nixon was called to give testimony to a grand jury about Watergate. Last Thursday, transcripts of this testimony were released to the public, allowing Americans to hear for the first time the former president’s under-oath words on the subject. The topics of discussion included the infamous 18½-minute gap on the tapes, the fate of an illegal $100,000 donation Nixon received from Howard Hughes, wiretaps used to spy on Nixon’s staff at the NSC, Nixon’s alleged ordering of an IRS audit of Democratic National Committee Chairman Larry O’Brien, and the assignment of ambassadorships to campaign contributors.

By the time Nixon gave his testimony before the grand jury, 10 months had passed since his resignation. It was June of 1975, and President Gerald Ford had already issued a full pardon for any crimes his now-disgraced predecessor might have committed while in office. Ostensibly, the purpose of the talk with federal attorneys was for former President Nixon to speak candidly about what he knew. Though Nixon was in no danger of incriminating himself, he knew very well that his words might implicate others in his administration who had not received a blanket pardon.

“Because of the presidential pardon, which was terribly difficult for me to take, rather than stand there and fight it out,” said Nixon, “…I can admit anything with impunity, but you are not going to use me to try to nail somebody else simply because I am not guilty of something,” Nixon said. The transcripts depict Nixon as aggressive and antagonistic, often arguing with the federal lawyers and challenging their questions. When asked about the illegal activities oh which he was accused, Nixon stuck with the responses he had given in public statements. Everything he did, said Nixon, had precedents in previous administrations.

To read the complete testimony transcripts, go to Los Angeles Times.

To see more Watergate photos that have been scanned to digital by the Los Angeles Times, visit Los Angeles Times.

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Baseball All-Star Matty Alou Dies At 72

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Matty Alou Dies At 72

Alou Made History As Part Of A Three-Brother Giants Outfield

Matty Alou, the two-time All-Star who was once part of an all-Alou outfield for the San Francisco Giants with brothers Felipe and Jesus, has died at the age of 72 in his home in the Dominican Republic. According to his former Dominican team, the Leones del Escogido, Alou died of diabetes complications. A spokesperson for the Giants confirmed Alou’s death and said that the former outfielder had been dealing with a variety of health issues for several years.

Alou was born in Haina, Dominican Republic, on December 22, 1938. Following his older brother Felipe and other pioneering Dominican baseball players of the late 1950s, Matty was part of the first wave of big leaguers to come from his country. The first photo seen here, which was recently scanned to digital by the Associated Press, shows Matty Alou in Casa Grande, Arizona on March 8, 1962, during Alou’s six-year stint as a San Francisco Giant. The next year, on September 15th, Matty and his two brothers made history when they took the field as the first trio of brothers in baseball history to play in the same outfield. All three Alous were fine hitters, and together they had 5,094 career hits – enough to beat out Joe, Dom and Vince DiMaggio for the best three-brother hitting record of all time.

After playing for the Giants, Matty Alou later played for Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Oakland, the Yankees, and San Diego. In 1966 when playing for the Pirates, Alou was National League batting champion with a batting average of .342. His career average was an impressive .307.

“Although he played for six different teams, Matty remained a part of the Giants family as a longtime employee and will be forever linked with his brothers, Felipe and Jesus, as the first all-brother major league outfield,” a spokesman for the Giants said. Matty Alou is survived by his wife, Maria Teresa, their sons Mateo Jr. and Matias, their daughter Teresa, four grandchildren, and five siblings: brothers Felipe, Jesus, and Jose, and sisters Zula and Virginia.

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Mathematician And Computer Science Pioneer John McCarthy Dies At 84

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

McCarthy Was Father Of Artificial Intelligence

Also Created Lisp Programming Language, Computer ‘Time-Sharing’

Mathematician and computer science pioneer John McCarthy has died. He was 84. The first photo here, which was scanned to digital by the Stanford News Service, shows McCarthy in 1966, when he and his students programmed a computer to play chess with a computer in the USSR.

In 1956, McCarthy issued a call for research in the field of “Automata Studies,” which he later renamed “artificial intelligence,” coining a phrase that would capture the imaginations of a generation. As host of the first AI conference at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, McCarthy began his seminal role in defining the field. He eventually became known as the father of artificial intelligence for his unmatched strides and career-long devotion to the development of intelligent computers.

John McCarthy taught at a variety of top universities including Princeton and MIT, but did most of his work at Stanford University. One of his major achievements was the creation of Lisp, a programming language used in everything from robotics to credit-card fraud detection, airline scheduling, and other Internet-based services. Practically every current AI program, including the iPhone’s new voice-controlled personal assistant Siri, can be traced back to Lisp, which McCarthy used to create one of the first computer chess programs.

McCarthy also invented the first system of computer “time-sharing,” a networking concept with which we are all familiar today, though we call it by a different name. Time-sharing was basically an early term for server-networking – a means by which many people can access and share data by linking to a central server via a network of computers. Lester Earnest, a retired Stanford senior research scientist who designed the first computer spell-checker, stressed the significance of this innovation. “The Internet would not have happened nearly as soon as it did except for the fact that John initiated the development of time-sharing systems,” he said. “We keep inventing new names for time-sharing. It came to be called servers. Now we call it cloud computing. That is still just time-sharing. John started it.” Ed Feigenbaum, a Stanford emeritus professor of computer science recruited by McCarthy in the 1960s, had equally high praise for his mentor. “He was always focused on the future,” said Feigenbaum, “always inventing, inventing, inventing.”

McCarthy was born in Boston in 1927, to an Irish immigrant father and a Jewish Lithuanian immigrant mother. As a teenager, McCarthy taught himself mathematics and eventually earned an undergraduate degree from Cal Tech in 1948. Just three years later, he had earned a doctorate from Princeton. During his career, he received a variety of major honors including the Association for Computing Machinery’s A.M. Turing Award in 1971 (the highest honor in the field of computer science), the Kyoto Prize in 1988, and the National Medal of Science in 1990.

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Remembering Steve Jobs

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs Dies At 56

Innovative Leader Built World’s Most Valuable Tech Company, Touched Countless Lives

This photo, which was scanned to digital by Apple Inc., shows founder Steve Jobs at the 1977 introduction of the Apple II computer – the first popular home computer, and the first to come with a keyboard and color monitor. The Apple II was also the first of many revolutionary technology products that Steve would bring to the market, forever changing the way we work, create, communicate, learn, and interact with the world. On October 5th, Jobs died after a long battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.

Last Tuesday’s somewhat lackluster iPhone 4S announcement was soon put into perspective when it was announced that Apple’s ingenious, charismatic, and much-loved leader had passed away. The company released a statement saying:

We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.

Jobs, who was only 56 years old, transformed not only the computer industry but also the music industry, the cell phone industry, the portable gaming industry, and more. He left a legacy of blockbuster products such as the original Macintosh computer, the iMac, the iPod, the MacBook – the world’s number-one notebook computer – and of course the ubiquitous iPhone and iPad. Jobs also revolutionized computer animation with Pixar, a company he formed in 1986 after purchasing a small animation firm from Lucasfilm’s effects division, Industrial Light & Magic.

After struggling with health problems for nearly a decade, Jobs resigned his post as Apple’s CEO in August, 35 years after co-founding the company in the garage of his parents’ home in Cupertino, California. Jobs’ story is one of incredible persistence and constant innovation. Forced out of his own company in the mid 1980s, Steve immediately poured himself – and his personal fortune – into two new projects, one of which became Pixar. As his second computer company, NeXT, struggled to get off the ground, Jobs refused to let financial woes and a hesitant Hollywood prevent Pixar from taking off. After the studio’s first feature film “Toy Story” became a monumental success, Pixar went public and Jobs’s money troubles were over; he became a billionaire overnight. Pixar was later bought by Disney for $7.5 billion, making Jobs the biggest shareholder in the entertainment giant.

After years apart from Apple, Steve was brought back in to a struggling Apple in 1996, when he made major changes to the company and eventually was reinstated as CEO. The next year, a near-bankrupt Apple introduced the iMac desktop computer, and the company’s amazing comeback had begun. Apple Inc. is now the most valuable technology company in the world. Jobs truly believed that technology was a tool that should be used not only to crunch numbers, but to unleash creativity and to enrich the lives of people everywhere.

Jobs is survived by his wife, their son Reed Paul, their daughters Erin Sienna and Eve, and his daughter Lisa. To see more Steve Jobs photos that have been scanned to digital by the Los Angeles Times, visit Los Angeles Times.

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