Iconic images...

[DeeCrowSeer]

Perhaps this is just me ego talking, but I've always wanted to have a really cool black and white photo taken of me. I've just been looking at the Gallery photos of Mr M, and there are some classics there. Obviously he's a published author (and rock star), so there's a good reason for him to have cool black and white photos of himself lying around (for dust jackets and so forth), so I think it would be taking vanity too far to simply pay someone to take a posed shot of you for the mantlepiece... but still, I really, really want to have a black and white photo of myself looking iconic. I'm pretty sure everyone looks iconic in black and white, with the right sort of coat on.

I suppose I have to go and get famous for something now. :(

Oh, while I'm talking photos... I don't know what the situation is in America, but over here the Photo-Me-Booths (passport photo booths) have all been "upgraded" to digital cameras... but not very good digital cameras. The print-out is terrible. The pixels scream at you, and the colours are horrible. But there's no choice anymore. It's cheap digital or nothing. I tried the "black and white" option on one machine and it wasn't even true greyscale... okay, I probably shouldn't get annoyed about this, but it's another area of life where the price is going up and the quality is coming down.

Rant, rant, gnash, gnash.

Sorry.

D...

[zakt]

I retain a certain fondness for an id card I had done for my first trip abroad (no, not Carlisle ). I was wearing school blazer with large "Noddy says 'Legalise It'" badge, but malheuresment the wind caught my then unfashionably long locks and gave me a look not unlike the young Jack Charlton. In addition, a large scrape on the right lens of my spectacles caught the light and Jack acquired something of a squint. At least I was thin in those days (sigh).

But yes - for sheer glamour as an author, the B&W snaps of Albert Camus take some beating. I owe some lung damage to his advertising Gauloise so well.

[Omaru]

Mmmm.... Gauloise are yummy.

[DeeCrowSeer]

I've always been a fan of a set Oscar Wilde had taken (pure vanity shots) on his first tour of America. According to a book I read, the "aesthete" image really took off and a lot of companies (including cigarette manufacturers) used illustrations based on these photos in their advertising... the photographer started legal action, and this set the precedent for all future "copyright" law in the country. So cool black and white photographs are an important part of legal history too!

D...

[Cypher]

Re: Iconic images...

Perhaps this is just me ego talking, but I've always wanted to have a really cool black and white photo taken of me. )
D...

Well, I voted yes, but I would settle for any'cool photo taken of me', be it black and white, or in colour. All the photos I have, never make me look as I would wish!
:lol:

[Jules]

Smoking is bad for you!

http://www.uppers.org/showContributor.asp?id=5

Actually this image is more black than black and white.

[DeeCrowSeer]

Smoking is bad for you!

But it does look really, really cool... and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. I really have no desire to pick up the habit, but whenever I day-dream about having really serious and clever conversations with people, there's always a cigarette in my hand! I obviously watch too many movies...

Actually this image is more black than black and white.

Still pretty cool though. Top marks!

D...

[Bob]

If I had a black and white photo, I'd probably look all hair and a forehead! Scary thought...

[DeeCrowSeer]

No point starting a whole new topic for this, but I just wanted to make this public service announcement:

Never try to shave your own head

It just isn't a good idea. I'm sure no one here is stupid enough to try, but I was willing to give it a go out of idle curiosity. I had one of those electric shavers with the plastic clips, and I thought it would be as easy as turning the thing on and running it over my head... apparently not.

Thank goodness for the British summer. These days it's either very sunny or very wet, so I have an excuse to wear a hat either way!

Still, I have learned a valuable lesson today. There is a lot more to cutting hair than you might imagine. :D

D...

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Dee, I used to have hair down to my waist. Then one day I realized my receding hairline was to the point that from a distance, it appeared as if my hair was slipping off the back of my head. So, I decided to go in the exact opposite direction and shave it completely bald.

Had to cut with scissors, then shave with clippers, then finish with a razor and shaving cream. It was indeed difficult and I was going for no hair at all. No way I could have given myself a decent-looking crew-cut. As it was, I had little nicks all over my skull!

Did it in the summer as well, so I learned the hard way that when skin is covered with hair for decades, it burns easily once exposed. Very, very easily.

And pillows are colder than you think.

[zakt]

Hm, I was forced to wear a wooly hat in summer due to a similar experience. :oops: Cheap clippers may seem an economy in theory, but in practice I prefer to let someone else take the blame for bad haircuts. As it was, I had to pay extra for the rescue job the barber did, and still ended up with a No 1 I didn't want.

[DeeCrowSeer]

Hm, I was forced to wear a wooly hat in summer due to a similar experience. :oops: Cheap clippers may seem an economy in theory, but in practice I prefer to let someone else take the blame for bad haircuts. As it was, I had to pay extra for the rescue job the barber did, and still ended up with a No 1 I didn't want.

That's it exactly!! I have a few patches which are shorter than they should be, so I'm going to have to wait until it's grown out a bit, then get down to the barber again. I wasn't really trying to save money, but it was raining and I thought it might be fun. I did get a laugh of two out of it, but I certainly won't do it again.

PWV: I salute you for your courage! It was partly the sight of men with balding heads and pony tails that made me want to shave it off. I hope the pain was worth it in the end.

But thank you both for backing me up! I was beginning to feel very foolish. Bless you. :)

D...

[Omaru]

I shave my own head with the clippers and the plastic guard all the time. Just take a little extra time to make sure it's all even and it's no problem. For me anyway. Maybe your head is bumpier than mine or something. :mrgreen:

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Maybe your head is bumpier than mine...

Heh. That's one thing you find out quick: how friggin' lumpy the ol' melon is. No way to tell you've got a knotty noggin until it's too late...

[Jules]

I went for a complete crop a few years aback purely to find out what my head did look like (and what it would look like when it was actually neccessary, rather than finding out then!). As it is, my forehead is rapidly facing up to meet the patch at the back!