By Filip Spagnoli.
Women in Chicago arrested for wearing bathing suits.
WOMEN IN CHICAGO BEING ARRESTED FOR WEARING ONE PIECE BATHING SUITS, WITHOUT COVERING THEIR LEGS 1922
Here’s a similar image from somewhere else (looks like DC):
THE SWIMSUIT POLICE CHECKING THE LENGTH OF A SUIT, 1922
There’s obviously no human right to wear a bikini, but getting arrested for wearing one is a rights violation. And all this is indicative of society’s disregard for gender equality. The famous story of Annette Kellerman is relevant here. Kellerman was famous for advocating the right of women to wear a one-piece bathing suit, which was controversial at the time. According to an Australian magazine, “In the early 1900s, women were expected to wear cumbersome dress and pantaloon combinations when swimming. In 1907, at the height of her popularity, Kellerman was arrested on Revere Beach, Massachusetts, for indecency – she was wearing one of her fitted one-piece costumes.” Here she is:
Unsurprisingly, women have been the main targets of the decency police. And yet, here’s an example of a man at a beach in the Netherlands being fined for not wearing decent clothes (in 1931):
Poverty in New York
BEGGAR IN NY, BY RICHARD SANDLER, 1980S
(SOURCE)
SOUTH STREET, NEW YORK, 1932, BY WALKER EVANS
Homeless child in San Salvador.
Casualties in Stalingrad
As Russians are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad – even temporarily giving Volgograd back its old name – here’s a useful reminder of the horror of the event:
The fall of the Berlin Wall 1989
HANDS OF EAST AND WEST GERMANS ARE SEEN TEARING DOWN BARBED WIRE FROM THE TOP OF THE WALL AT THE NEWLY-OPENED OSTPREUSSENDAMM STRASSE CHECKPOINT IN BERLIN, WEST GERMANY, 1989, BY JAMES NACHTWEY
(SOURCE)
YOUNG GERMANS ATTACK THE BERLIN WALL THE DAY IT FELL, BY ANTHONY SUAU 1989
(SOURCE)
Famine in China
FAMISHED CHINESE CHILD DYING IN A GUTTER, BY GEORGE SILK 1946
(SOURCE)
BY GEORGE SILK 1946
(SOURCE)
These images are not from the more infamous famine that occurred during theGreat Leap Forward.
George Silk was a LIFE Magazine staffer, working for them 30 years. He extensively covered many aspects of the second world war, at one point being even captured by the Germans, and then fortunately escaping. He was also the first photographer to document Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. Immediately after the war, he was in China recording the poor social conditions and the lack of resources and its devastating effects on the Chinese populace. (source)
For more iconic images please go to: Filip Spagnoli’s page
