Cyrus
10-09-2005, 07:41 AM
More than a year ago, while a house was been demolished in England, the owners discovered some 800-odd nitrate film negatives that had been miraculously preserved for more than a hundred years. The negatives were turned over to the British Film Institute for restoration. They constitute a large part of the collection of the works of Mitchell and Kenyon. They were photographers at the turn of the 19th century, making their living the way every neighborhood or traveling photographer still does today (or, at least, a few decades ago, before the cataclysm of personal photography gadgets), which is by snapping pictures of people in the street, the sports event, the social event (marriages, etc), posing for an "official portrait", etc, and selling it to them.
These entrepeneurs turned to cinematography and continued to ply their trade the same way, only through cinema this time, by filming people in the streets, outside the factory gates, in the fair, promenading by the beach side, in a military procession, etc. They were filming everyday people and then, in the evening, they were showing these one-reelers to the same people, who paid a ticket to see themselves on screen.
The DVD that has been recently released by the BFI is a magnificent flimic experience. Edwardian Britain comes alive on the screen (the picture quality is surprisingly good). These are real folks as they lived and went about their daily business in 1901. A profound social insight. And, of course, seeing all these people, now all dead and gone, babies, children, young people, old geezers, turning their playful, curious, hostile or indifferent gaze towards the camera (and the 21st century viewer), one cannot help but receive also a sobering insight on life, in general. Aspiring philosophers start here.
The Films Of Mitchell And Kenyon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00092ZE5U/qid=1128857724/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_16_1/202-1945418-8699062)
These entrepeneurs turned to cinematography and continued to ply their trade the same way, only through cinema this time, by filming people in the streets, outside the factory gates, in the fair, promenading by the beach side, in a military procession, etc. They were filming everyday people and then, in the evening, they were showing these one-reelers to the same people, who paid a ticket to see themselves on screen.
The DVD that has been recently released by the BFI is a magnificent flimic experience. Edwardian Britain comes alive on the screen (the picture quality is surprisingly good). These are real folks as they lived and went about their daily business in 1901. A profound social insight. And, of course, seeing all these people, now all dead and gone, babies, children, young people, old geezers, turning their playful, curious, hostile or indifferent gaze towards the camera (and the 21st century viewer), one cannot help but receive also a sobering insight on life, in general. Aspiring philosophers start here.
The Films Of Mitchell And Kenyon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00092ZE5U/qid=1128857724/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_16_1/202-1945418-8699062)