Harry Dubin and Old New York

I love historical photography collections, relish flipping through them and getting a glimpse into another era. It's very H.G. Wells, very magical to me. At the Kisseloff Collection, there is a series on a fella named Harry Dubin. This is such a cool story. Please follow THE LINK to read it in its entirety and see the wonderful photos.

Inside were some 30 color photographs taken in and around the city in the 1940s. I had never seen such vibrant photos of the city in those years. In fact, I had never seen any color photos of the city in those years, yet here they were. It was such an interesting collection. Each of the pictures depicted a man in uniform intently doing his job, whether it was a street sweeper, gas station attendant or hansom cab driver. When I looked at them twice, I realized something, all of them were Harry!

Needless to say, while our subsequent interview was wonderful, the album left me speechless in delight. These were the most evocative photographs of old New York I had ever seen. Harry explained that all of them were taken by his son Ronald, who was then a teenager, after Harry managed to convince each worker to change clothes with him in an alley and let Harry do his job for a few minutes so the picture could be taken.

Freezing to Death

One of the books on my "To Read" list is called Surviving the Extremes: What Happens to the Body and Mind at the Limits of Human Endurance by Dr. Kenneth Kamler. Relatedly, to pay homage to the biting intense Colorado cold, here is a classic, detailed article on the process of freezing to death via Outside Magazine:

"The cold hard facts of freezing to death By Peter Stark"

Great creepy description and nice reference. Here are some deliciously weird factoids from the article...

At 85 degrees, those freezing to death, in a strange, anguished paroxysm, often rip off their clothes. This phenomenon, known as paradoxical undressing, is common enough that urban hypothermia victims are sometimes initially diagnosed as victims of sexual assault. Though researchers are uncertain of the cause, the most logical explanation is that shortly before loss of consciousness, the constricted blood vessels near the body's surface suddenly dilate and produce a sensation of extreme heat against the skin.

In fact, many hypothermia victims die each year in the process of being rescued. In "rewarming shock," the constricted capillaries reopen almost all at once, causing a sudden drop in blood pressure. The slightest movement can send a victim's heart muscle into wild spasms of ventricular fibrillation. In 1980, 16 shipwrecked Danish fishermen were hauled to safety after an hour and a half in the frigid North Sea. They then walked across the deck of the rescue ship, stepped below for a hot drink, and dropped dead, all 16 of them.

Moments later, he's sliding a large catheter into an incision in the man's abdominal cavity. Warm fluid begins to flow from a suspended bag, washing through his abdomen, and draining out through another catheter placed in another incision. Prosaically, this lavage operates much like a car radiator in reverse: The solution warms the internal organs, and the warm blood in the organs is then pumped by the heart throughout the body.

Dr. Death

"Aribert Ferdinand Heim (born 28 June, 1914 – allegedly died 10 August, 1992)[1] was a former Austrian doctor, also known as Dr. Death. As an SS doctor in a Nazi concentration camp in Mauthausen, he is accused of killing and torturing many inmates by various methods, such as direct injections of toxic compounds into the hearts of his victims.

According to a former camp inmate (of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp), an 18-year-old Jewish man came to the clinic with a foot inflammation. He was asked by Heim why he was so fit. He replied that he had been a soccer player and swimmer. Instead of treating the prisoner's foot, Heim placed him under anesthesia, cut him open, took apart one kidney, removed the second and castrated him. The man was decapitated and Heim boiled the flesh off the skull for use as a paperweight and display." (Wiki)



From the Briefcase of Dr. Aribert Heim

Xue Jiye

Xue Jiye is a contemporary Chinese artist. I was first struck by the work sans explanation but I liked what I read on his website too. See more and read more here --> http://www.xue-jiye.com/

From the Intro to his Work:

Xue does not like to be classified as a particular kind or type of painter. He says that it is important for artists to depict things in their own unique and original artist’s language. Xue’s style has evolved a lot over the past 10 years. And he predicts more changes in the future. But the artist is consistent in the purpose of his paintings – he paints because he has the urge to paint. And the subject matter of his paintings emerges from that need. When creating, Xue prefers to allow himself a lot of freedom. "I work in a surreal style in my paintings because it gives me more space." The artist says that "reality has become boring," and he feels numb from society. So his mind stretches beyond reality into the world of dreams and imagination.

GenDisasters

"... is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death. Database and records searchable by surname."

http://www3.gendisasters.com/

Article titles like:

"TORNADO IN MINNESOTA. TOWN OF LOWREY OBLITERATED AND TEN PERSONS REPORTED KILLED."

"HUNTINGTON, AR MINE EXPLOSION, 1897. THIRTY-FIVE MEN SCORCHED. ONE SO BADLY THAT HE DIED... "

"TWO LOSE LIVES IN BAD WRECK ON GREAT WESTERN. ENGINEER AND FIREMAN ON SOUTH BOUND PASSENGER TRAIN KILLED. (1915)"

Neat photos! Lots of browsing options.

This Is The Way The World Ends

Still Life

"A spooky short film about an over-caffeinated driver who finds himself in an alternate reality after a body crashes through his windshield. Directed by John Knautz and starring Trevor Matthews."

Still Life

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