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George Lawrence Photography Revisited

Posted by kdawson on from the 99-red-balloons dept.

danlor writes "We were all taken aback 4 years ago when someone linked us the history of George Lawrence and his photos of the aftermath of the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake. I personally thought to myself: man, I would love to make one of those cameras. The idea of flying 2,000-pound cameras with kites... Well, someone has actually recreated the feat. They even provide links to get large prints of the original and recreated scenes."

1 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Fine Print by EdIII · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Talk about misleading. Recreated?

    "Although flying kites should be the method of choice, more important is to obtain the correct image. Air space restrictions, and common sense required the use of a helicopter. The new image was shot from the exact location as Lawrence achieved in 1906."

    That is according to the new photographers. I just love their usage of the word "exact". Uh huh. Not to mention a helicopter was used instead of a kite.

    The original page states a 46 pound camera, but the article states 2000 pounds.

    "I'm sure the Mr. Lawrence would have used a helicopter if it had been available. We had a wonderful side trip"

    I don't doubt that. The article is misleading and contradictory, and I did not see what I thought I was going to see. What they accomplished is pretty neat, and certainly good photography, but not groundbreaking or particularly mind blowing.

    I just feel like the ol' bait and switch gag has been played on us