The 1952 edition of Photograms of the Year contained the usual, sometimes odd, mixture of themes and styles. Pets continued to be popular subjects proving that cats and dogs ruled long before the advent of the internet. We forget that at this time getting a photograph published was only for the professional photographer or gifted amateur whereas today anyone can post on facebook, instagram and many other platforms no matter how good or bad their work is.
The photo of the black cat is entitled “Actor?” and is by Felipe Maiaru.
As usual, pictorialism is well represented as seen in Copmere by John D Jones and Dawn Departure by H S Newcombe.
I’m always complaining about weird photos of children and old men or ethnic types with lots of wrinkles in these older publications so it’s only right I’ve included examples to show what I mean. Ethnic wrinklies are still popular today whereas it’s difficult to imagine anyone publishing photos of crying infants. (I think I can say wrinklies because I am one myself.) You’re seeing Breaking Point by Ann-Marie Gripman and The Painter by Holt Madson.
Fireside Beauty by Karel Jan Hora is more aesthetically pleasing perhaps. And if you’re here for the nudes:
You’re looking at Juno by Joan Craven and Low Key by W.A.J. Paul. The notes that go with Juno say “Nude photography is one of the most difficult branches of photography with many pitfalls, but when it is successful it is usually more than justified. It must be idealised in some way or it merely becomes portraiture without clothes, which would not be regarded, to say the least, as in good taste.”
Finally you could expect to find several pages of advertisements at the end of each edition of Photograms of the Year. Often the adverts were surprisingly wordy though this one let a striking image do the talking.
