“Photographs are born of the positives and negatives accumulated in a lifetime.” – Al Jaffee   Brooklyn-born Jay Jaffee (1921 – 1999) takes us to a New York City of energy, isolation, emotion and ambition. His sublime black-and-white photographs evoke stories in their textured and balanced blend of of lights and shadow. Having served as … Continue reading "New York City Streets by Al Jaffee" The post New York City Streets by Al Jaffee appeared first on Flashbak.

Whenever Doug Biggert (1941-2023) picked up a hitch-hiker in Northern California he took their picture. To make the  “explanation simpler”, and reassure hitchhikers of his intentions, he kept a binder full of his pictures to show them. What turned into a decades-long project began in 1973, when Biggert was hosting a twice-weekly late-night jazz … Continue reading "Riding With Strangers: California Hitchhikers in the 1970s" The post Riding With Strangers: California Hitchhikers in the 1970s appeared first on Flashbak.

“Everyone should live creatively. It is now recognised that the creative urge – other than sex – is manifest in varying degrees, not only in musicians, writers and painters, but in all human beings…. Creation in the widest sense must surely be adding to what already exists. If you contribute something to others and to … Continue reading "Miss Margaret Morris’ Merry Mermaids" The post Miss Margaret Morris’ Merry Mermaids appeared first on Flashbak.

Duke Ellington (born Edward Kennedy Ellington; April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) had a voracious appetite for sex and food. The elegant American jazz pianist, composer, master of instrumental colour and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra wrote thousands of songs and performed all over the world, not least in his role as … Continue reading "32 Hotdogs and A Pocketful of Chops: Eating With Duke Ellington" The post 32 Hotdogs and A Pocketful of Chops: Eating With Duke Ellington appeared first on Flashbak.

In 1907, the Wiener Werkstätte art movement produced a set of 12 prints featuring different Variety acts. These Varieténummer – Vaudeville performances – were both madly daring and fanciful. Mac Bull from Philadelphia (Act 11) would drive his car around a rainbow. A. Lucci the Famous Hunger Artist (Act 3) had gone 132 days without … Continue reading "12 Variety Acts by the Wiener Werkstätte, 1907" The post 12 Variety Acts by the Wiener Werkstätte, 1907 appeared first on Flashbak.