“Porch of old house at Monroe St., Mobile[, Alabama],” taken November 4, 1941, by Charles W. Cushman.*
The atmosphere of this porch is still and quiet, but I think there’s something urgent about the conversation. The expression of the young woman in pink is serious; the woman across from her has stopped on her way (in or to her own house?) from the grocery store. They all listen intently to the older woman in light blue.
Cushman was an amateur photographer who began documenting his travels in 1938, using expensive, (then) little-used Kodachrome film. He continued taking color pictures for 32 years, ultimately bequeathing 14,500 slides to his alma mater, Indiana University.
NPR has an interesting audio/slide show on Cushman and his work here, and here is a series of color photos of New York City that he took in the early 1940s.
*Used with the permission of the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection, Indiana University Archives. I originally posted this image in November 2012.
enclos*ure 
Oo! Fantastic, these promise to be excellent. It’s always a little odd witnessing the colour of an age which television has taught us is ‘black and white’
They seem much more immediate, although the colors are not as bright as today’s photos. Yet, I think this one is as timeless as a painting.
Incredible photo! Intimate. Personal. Powerful. It could be used as a writing prompt.
It’s very quiet and yet tense.
I got seriously distracted looking at Cushman’s work and lost all track of time. You probably know of her already, but if you don’t look up some of the work of Vivian Maier. The story of how her art came to be known is fascinating.
http://www.vivianmaier.com/
The Vivian Maier website is wonderful. Thanks! I’ve got it bookmarked to look at for a long time tonight.
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[…] taken for the U.S. Farm Security Administration on the then new Kodachrome color transparency […]