Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: skulls

I'm not sure what to make of this strange vintage postcard. Perhaps it's delivering a message about drinking and driving, or possibly there's a moral about hifalutin folks who party too much hidden in there somewhere. Or maybe it's just showing us something similar to a Batmobile, only with a skull. 8-)

A defaced or altered photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I was surprised when I spotted this painted-over cabinet card photo at an antique mall last year. I had never seen anything quite like it, and I thought that it ruined the photo. On the other hand, I was intrigued by the way some unknown artist had re-imagined what was probably an otherwise unremarkable portrait, painting a modern lucha libre skull mask (and a small bat) onto a nineteenth-century photo and thereby transforming it into a work of Halloween art. I didn't necessarily want to encourage anyone to deface old photos, and I debated whether to even purchase it. The cabinet card was the only painted photo in the antique dealer's booth, however, and the eyes looked so haunting and pleading that I ended up buying it. Since then, I've come across Now and Then: The Cabinet Card Paintings of Alex Gross (Berkeley, Calif.: Gingko Press, 2012), a book described by its publisher as "the complete compendium of acclaimed artist Alex Gross's mixed media paintings layered on top of antique 19th century cabinet card photographs from portrait studios all around the country" (for before-and-after examples of the cabinet photos and finished paintings in the book, see the February 8, 2013, posting on Larry Fire's Fire Wire Pop Culture Blog ). This cabinet card painting isn't as elaborate as those by Alex Gross, and I still have mixed feelings about these kinds of mixed media, but it's still fascinating to see how the somewhat contradictory juxtaposition of modern artwork and vintage media can create something new and surprising. Note to administrators of photo groups: If you feel that the altered aspect of this photo isn't suitable for your group, I won't be offended at all if you remove it. Otherwise, I hope it sparks some discussion regarding the appropriateness of using old photographs in this manner.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of outdoors at night . Handwritten note on the back of this snapshot: "3 oclock in the morning." Five women and three men pose for a photo at three o'clock in the morning. A handmade "welcome" sign on the door includes a drawing of two skull and crossbones.

A front porch photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A group of 36 men and women assembled on and in front of the porch of a fraternity house. I found this photo at an antique mall in Pennsylvania, and judging by the "AKD" banner, the "State" pillow, and the "S[tate] 1910" pillow, this is probably the same men's social fraternity that William Raimond Baird described in Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities , 7th ed. (New York: College Fraternity Publishing, 1912), p. 572: "Alpha Kappa Delta--Organized May 4, 1909, at Pennsylvania State College [now Pennsylvania State University]. The membership is about 50. The badge is an oblong shield displaying the letters forming the society's name in the center in vertical order. The colors are orange and blue. It rents a house." Perhaps that's the house that the fraternity was renting. The AKD banner on the porch, interestingly enough, includes a skull and crossbones in its upper left-hand corner. And who are the young and middle-aged women in the photo? Girlfriends and chaperones? Students and profs? Today, Alpha Kappa Delta is the name of a sociology honor society founded in 1920. It would be interesting to know, however, what happened to this fraternity in the decade after this photo was taken.