The “Loch Ness Monster” Jen Wetherell, 1934

Also known as The “Surgeon’s Photo”. This fuzzy picture, made in April 1934, is known all over the world. During 60 years this photo gave rise to the most incredible speculations about a living saurian inhabiting Loch Ness Lake in Scotland. It also caused a lot of rumors and conjectures, initiated some submarine expeditions and gave rise to the whole industry of tourism in a little Scottish town.
That was till 1994 when the adopted son of the author of the falsification Christian Spurling – told the public about his stepfather Marmaduke Wetherell contracted by the London newspaper Daily Mail for the search of the big animal, failed to find it and decied to make this fake photo with the help of his stepson Christian and son Jen. That is Jen - the real author of the picture. “Nessie” was constructed in haste and was supported on the surface with the help of a toy submarine.
In order to make the story hang together well, the swindlers induced the local surgeon Robert Kenneth Wilson to call himself the author of the photo.

“Gandhi” Margaret Bourke-White, 1946

One of the most influential people of the XX century, Gandhi, did not like to be photographed, though in 1946 a staff member of Life, Margaret Bourke-White, was allowed taking his picture against the spinning wheel – the symbol of struggle for independence of India. Before the photographer was admitted to make photo session, she had to learn how to spin – that was the requirement of Gandhi’s surroundings.
Managed with this, two more tasks were waiting for the photographer. At the beginning it was found out that nobody was permitted to speak with Gandhi – he had “the day of silence”, which He used to spend speechless. As Gandhi could not stand a bright light, Margaret was allowed to make only three shots (with flash).
One more problem was also a moist atmosphere of India, which affected the camera, that’s why two first pictures were poor, but the third one turned out to be great. It is the very shot, that formed the image of India for the million of people. The photo became the last portrait of Gandhi during his lifetime – two years later He was killed…

“Le Violon d’Ingres” Man Ray, 1924

Before the epoch of digital photography and Photoshop has come, it was the epoch of Man Ray, one of the most outstanding and distinctive photographer in the world who made endless experiments with photos.

The picture “Le Violon d’Ingres” (the Violin D'Ingres) is his early and probably the most well-known work. This shot represents a kind of visual pun, simultaneously emphasizing the resemblance of a female body with the violin, sending the viewer to the association with the French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, who depicted naked women and accompanied the show of his pictures playing the violin.

The masterpiece of the intellectual-dadaist Man Ray outstripped its time. Having defined the photography as the means of the artistic interpretation of reality, Man Ray anticipated our revolution in digital photographing.

In a Village part.II

Some more pics from the village made by me:)