Louis Espinassous

Louis Espinassous (1951) is an educator, biologist, ethnologist, novelist, storyteller and shepherd, working more particularly in nature education. 

Louis Espinassous lives in Béarn, in the Ossau Valley (hence the brown beret, typical for the Ossau Valley).

For twenty years he worked as a technical and educational advisor in Nature Education within the Pyrenees National Park, as well as at the Departmental Directorate of Youth and Sports of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

A storyteller from his adolescence, he continued, over the years, to tell stories for children and adults, producing a number of naturalist, ethnographic and educational books and documents.

 

Yakov Khalip

Yakov Khalip (1908-1980) was born in 1908 in St. Petersburg, in a family of musicians. His first publication in the magazine “Ogonyok” – a photograph of the embankment of the Moscow River at night – took place in 1926. Two years later, Khalip became a participant in the exhibition “10 years of Soviet photography” and received a diploma for a portrait series of actors. Soon his photographs began to be published by the magazines “Cinema and Life” and “Soviet Photo”.

Clock factory, 1936

 In 1938 Yakov Khalip was a part of the rescue expedition as an official agency photojournalist “Soyuzfoto“. The whole country admired his pictures of the Papanin heroes. After the shots depicting the epic rescue of the polar station crew, scattered on postcards throughout the Union, a photo album was made in cooperation with Alexander Rodchenko. The dramatic and heroic moments of the conquest history soon became classics of Soviet and world photography.

Water drinker, 1950

First Snowman

First snowman. 

 Photo by Karl Laane (Estonian SSR, 1962)

Waiting

A waiter carries tea in Baku, capital of the Azerbaijan SSR, 1976
 

The Arktika is a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker built by Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg. It is the lead ship of Project 22220 icebreakers and superseded the preceding class of nuclear-powered icebreakers as the largest and most powerful icebreaker ever constructed.

A crew member of the Arktika and the bear cub Mishka, 1975. 

Photo by Roman Denisov

 

Peace on Earth - Soviet Style

Peace on Earth - We Will Defend It! 

Solidarity is the Weapon of Victory!

Soviet poster, 1964

 

Nina Lobkovskaya

Nina Alexeyevna Lobkovskaya (1924) was a sniper in the Red Army during World War II.

She attained the rank of lieutenant and commanded a separate women's sniper company of the 3rd Shock Army during World War II. She was wounded twice and killed 89 people during the war.

After graduating in history from Moscow State University, she worked as a lecturer that the Central Museum of V. I. Lenin, and in 1974 she was awarded the title Honored Culture Worker of the RSFSR.

We Are Mechanics

 

"We Are Mechanics" — Moldavian SSR, Chișinău, 1986. Photo by A. Simonovsky and M. Potyrnik.

Cambrai Beret

The "Cambrai beret" refers to the black beret worn by the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR). It's a distinctive part of their uniform, along with black coveralls and boots, and is closely associated with the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. The black beret was first adopted by the RTR, then known as the Tank Corps, around the time of the Battle of Cambrai.

The Battle of Cambrai in 1917 was a significant event in the history of tank warfare, marking the first large-scale use of tanks in battle.

ECO Museum of Yesteryear

The Cultural Association of the Heritage of Old Hand Tools of Cambrai aims to preserve the heritage of old hand tools and machines of our ancestors (from the 18th to the 20th century), to transmit the memory of the living conditions of past generations, to school students and the general public through exhibitions and activities. To date, the association has 22 active members and more than 145 benefactor members.

Founder and president Gilbert de Sainte-Marisville

The Ecomuseum houses 2,300 original pieces. More than 40 themes are covered: rural France in the past, artisans, street trades, schools between the two wars, our grandmothers' recipes, the working conditions of men and women, etc.

Gilbert de Sainte-Marisville showing a late 20th century dog cart

Extinct Jobs

A strange thought for previous generations, how perfectly ordinary jobs would go extinct over time.

The traditional broom maker, for example

the clog (or wooden shoe) maker,

chestnut roasters/sellers

sweet and candy vendors

polishers

the rag and bone man

and home distillers.

Hone Tuwhare

Hone Peneamine Anatipa Te Pona Tuwhare (1922 –2008) was a noted Māori New Zealand poet. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Southland region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter part of his life.

Tuwhare during his service with J-Force in Japan, post WW2

Starting in 1939, Tuwhare, encouraged by fellow poet R.A.K. Mason, began to write while working as an apprentice at the Otahuhu Railway Workshops.

In 1956, Tuwhare started writing seriously after resigning from a local branch of the Communist party. His first, and arguably best-known work, No Ordinary Sun, was published in 1964 to widespread acclaim and subsequently reprinted ten times over the next 30 years, becoming one of the most widely read individual collections of poetry in New Zealand history.

When Tuwhare's poems first began to appear in the late 1950s and early 1960s they were recognised as a new departure in New Zealand poetry, cutting across the debates and divisions between the 1930s and post-war generations. Much of the works' originality was the result of their distinctly Māori perspective.

Mick Woods

Mick Woods, who was sentenced to two years for his part in the Rotherham riots, is no stranger to protests and pickets.

Mick Woods was sentenced to two years in prison. “My conscience is very clear. Very clear. The people what don’t go down there [to protest], they are proper criminals”, says Wood.

Though Woods appeared to be anti-immigration generally, his protest had been against “atrocious terrorist acts” in Southport. He had sympathy for the asylum seekers, he said, and had not wanted them to be hurt. “I don’t blame people coming here. We’re sticking us nose in people’s business, all over the planet,” he said.

When the Allies settled in Berlin (1945)

 

More berets, on males and females, in more fascinating (restored) footage from 1945.

Hitler über Berlin

Some good berets in this incredible restored footage from May 1945.

Marshal Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov - commander-in-chief of the Red Army - inspects the city on May 3, 1945 after the surrender of Berlin. He is accompanied by Arthur Pieck - the later general director of the East-German airline Interflug and son of the first president of the GDR, Wilhelm Pieck. In addition, celebrations of the Red Army in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the Victory Column and the Lustgarten are shown with rare original sound.

Locations chronologically:

0:00 Reichtsag - 0:26 Brandenburg Gate - 1:34 Reich Chancellery (dead Hitler lookalike and dead Goebbels family) - 3:15 Victory Column - 4:06 Georgen Church (blown up in 1949) - 4:40 City Palace - Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument (demolished 1949/1950) - 4:55 Lustgarten and Altes Museum.

Rosanna Arquette

Rosanna Arquette selects feminist landmarks by Lizzie Borden and Barbara Loden, reflects on working with Hal Ashby, and praises Jane Fonda’s performance in KLUTE.

Stout

 

Shadows

 

Belgian Humor

"Pebbles don't talk"

"Yes, they do"

"What do they say then?"

"Only losers wear a beret"

 

Mona Roma

The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is the enfant terrible of Australia’s art museum scene.

A visit to this unique site – a twenty-minute ferry ride on the Mona Roma from Hobart – is known around town as a trip down the rabbit hole, due to the capacity of this dark, cavernous, underground gallery to “transport” you and leave you feeling pleasantly disorientated.

MONA Roma 1 sports a controversial military camouflage exterior, and inside is divided into five public spaces over two levels, with a two-tier admission. General admission is for the main, aft and upper decks, serviced by two bars and an array of fixed and loose seating. VIP admission includes drinks and canapés in the restricted Posh Pit at the bow of the boat. Large windows with low sills and higher-than-standard ceilings give the interior an open feel and offer all passengers clear views to the passing vistas and a close connection to the river.

The Dog Line

The Dog Line is one of the most terrifying parts of Tasmania’s complex convict history.

The 30 meter wide neck that leads to the Tasman Peninsula from mainland Tasmania was once guarded by a line of up to nine ferocious dogs. Three more were later positioned on watery platforms extending toward Norfolk Bay. 

A life-size bronze replica of this infamous scene can be found along a winding path near the local Community Hall.

The dogs were housed in old barrels and stationed within touching distance of one another but not close enough to fight. Along the ‘dog line’, oil lamps were fixed on posts at chest height and cockle shells were scattered on the ground to reflect the light.

Rumours were spread that the local waters were shark infested so ‘The Neck’ was the only exit from the peninsula.

Moonless Flag

15 April 2025: the image of the Jalur Gemilang, or the Malaysian national flag, on the first page of the Sin Chew Daily, had omitted the crescent moon symbol which the king said is unacceptable. 

The Sin Chew Daily has issued an apology to the king and is taking disciplinary action against the staff responsible for publishing an illustration of the flag without the crescent moon. 

Grandmaster

In this video, Johnny (a park chess player) discovers that a chess grandmaster. He gets very excited, and they end up playing a game where he tries to play his absolute best. 

This video was recorded in Washington Square Park, in NYC.

Portraits from the Basque Country #2

 

Corte de hierba en Andazarrate, Asteasu (Gipuzkoa). Fot. Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta

Farmer from Ataun (Gipuzkoa). Photo by Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta

Farmer from Ciordia (Navarra). Photo by Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta

Farmer from the Labarte hamlet (Aldaba, Gipuzkoa). Photo by Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta

Futura cosecha de manzana. Gesaltza, Oñati (Gipuzkoa). Fot. Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta

Portraits from the Basque Country #1

 

The servant of the Berazeaga farmhouse (Bidania, Gipuzkoa). Photo by Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta

Aitona del caserío Altxerri (Aia, Gipuzkoa)

Baserritarra del caserío de Larraul y su nieto. Fot. Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta

Fisherman of San Sebastián. Photo by Garikoitz Estornés Zubizarreta