Every Picture Tells a Story III
100 Favorite Photos and Stories, 10 at a Time
Our Favorite Photos list grew out of a backup catastrophe, in which we lost 5,000 photos, including most of our studio, commercial, and large format work. As we attempted the recovery, we started a process of prioritizing our "best" work. These aren’t necessarily the most artistic shots—rather, they’re photos that tell a story, however curious or trivial. We started out shooting for 100, but then Glinda suggested we should at least manage a year’s worth. We’re still thinking about that. Meanwhile, in no particular order…
Favorite 32: Petra, Jordan - The Siq Security Corridor.
The ancient Nabataean city of Petra was a major incense trading hub in a violent, arid region that prospered by harnessing its water supply and defending its citizens within this mile-long natural entrance corridor called the Siq. When ancient trade routes took to the oceans, the city was abandoned, only to be re-discovered in 1812 by the eccentric Swiss Arabist, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Five years later, Burckhardt died of dysentery in Cairo while organizing a trek to Timbuktu.
Favorite 28: Lugano, Switzerland - the Mafioso Next Door.
Far from a haunting ghost or ghoul, the absentee owner of this estate next to our former apartment on the slopes of Lake Lugano is the full-time resident of a maximum-security prison in southern Italy. At least his well-laundered money remains secure.
Favorite 25: Ninth Ward, New Orleans - Katrina Tosses House onto Cadillac - August 29, 2005.
The ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius on the Mandate of Heaven (319 BC): "The people are of supreme importance; the altars of soil and grain come next; last comes the ruler. When the sacrificial animals are sleek, the offerings are clean and the sacrifices are observed at due times, and yet floods and droughts come by the agency of heaven, then the altars should be replaced."
Favorite 23: Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California - RFK Assassination - June 5, 1968.
The Ambassador Hotel bites the dust. Once the swankest of swank and home of the Coconut Grove, where Frank Sinatra watched Sammy Davis Jr. record the most famous lounge act in history. None of that could save the place after the 1968 California Primary, when Bobby Kennedy was murdered in the kitchen and took the dreams of America with him. Dreadful end to an awful decade.
Favorite 39: Mexico City - Insurgentes Sur - Making the Tortas.
With more business than they can handle, the kitchen for this walk-up family torta shop has spilled out into an alley south of downtown off Avenida Insurgentes Sur. Somewhere between a soft taco and a round sandwich, and overstuffed with eccentric stews and cheeses, the torta is a staple of street food all over the city.
Favorite 37: Maryland Tidewater - Abandoned Farm.
The lower Delmarva Peninsula is one of those classic backwater eddies that dot the American cultural landscape. Composed from indigestible bits of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia and framed by the glories of the Chesapeake, the peninsula sports its own history, lifestyle, and unique English brogue. As low-lying Atlantic farmland, it has been battered from bust to boom and back, never quite taking off, never quite dying out. It doesn’t require much to picture the pride of the families that struggled and prospered on farms like this one—until the kids packed up and left for good.
Favorite 22: Picardie, France - Somme River - July 1, 1916.
During the Great War, 3 million soldiers fought for 141 days along the Somme River, with 1 million casualties and a total advance of 6 miles. On the first day alone, the British Fourth Army lost 57,470 souls, the worst tally in British history and more than the French and German losses combined. But other than a few scattered statues and cemeteries, the casual tourist won’t find a trace of the war anywhere here except in the imagination.
Favorite 21: Niagara Falls, New York - American Falls - Tibetan Monks on Tour.
For some reason, this scene struck us as hilarious. It brought to mind an imagined bromide like, "Monks are people too!" But we doubt these tourists would care to participate in either of the two iconic local activities—honeymooning (since 1801) or going over the Canadian falls in a barrel (since 1901).
Favorite 31: Paris, France - The Three Tops - April 15, 2019.
If this photo starts you humming "Reach Out I’ll Be There" by The Four Tops, we’ll understand. Actually, there are twelve Tops—or Disciples—descending, three on each corner, from the central spire of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Or at least there were, until they were removed for cleaning in 2019, just days before the catastrophic fire would have destroyed them. Sometimes, God’s ways aren’t mysterious at all.
Favorite 34: Biarritz, France - Villa Eugénie/Hôtel Du Palais.
Born in 1826 as María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales, and married off to the Emperor Napoleon III of France, the Spanish Princess Eugénie set the elegantly degenerate style of the short-lived 2nd French Empire. The beautiful woman changed dresses 4 times a day and never wore the same one twice. She ran roughshod over her husband, whom she despised, and forced him into some of the worst humiliations of his reign, including the surrender to the Prussians at Sedan in 1870 that got him the boot. But she at least knew a great view when she saw one.
Glinda, your pictures are amazing! Love the write-ups describing the picture!
Thank you! Some photos we love the story, but there just isn’t enough for a full post. Some of these have been hanging around for years.