Looking for an unknown 50's Drive-In Photo

[garryl]

Gawd, where would one come up with several hundred or several thousand flash bulbs these days?

http://www.flashbulbs.com/index.shtml

[donbga]

Don't know how many times he had to stage a particular shot Gary. I have heard one story where the lady that owned the Hotel where he was staying tried to get him run out of town after the two thousand flashbulbs went off shorly after midnight, and that was the first test of the setup. She was convinced that Link was some kind of Devil Worshipper. I heard Link always stopped by and got aquainted with the local Law officers before he started work. That and the commission from the railroad kept him out of trouble.

Gawd, where would one come up with several hundred or several thousand flash bulbs these days?

Link coordinated his shots with the train company and crews. Notice that on many shots, all the smoke spewing from the locomotives, that was not normal operating procedure, as it was very wasteful of coal. Any engineer that did that during normal operations would be sure to get in hot water. AFAIK, there were no retakes. His shots were totally planned and conceptualized.

As for the flash coordination, they were fired by some type of sequencer that Link may have devised himself. His knowledge of lighting was very sophisticated. He usually worked with one assistant, spending hours setting up the lights and wiring. There is a photograph of Link and his assistant on the cover of Vicki Goldberg's book on the history of photography.

Don Bryant

[Alex Hawley]

http://www.flashbulbs.com/index.shtml

WOW! Thanks Garryl. I thought they were extinct. Thinking of them brings back the spots in my eyes.

[Monophoto]

NW 1103, Hotshot Freight, Eastbound, at the Iaeger Drive-In, $4,000.00

On the hot night of August 2, 1956, Winston Link created what has become his most famous photograph. The Iaeger Drive-In was located on the N&W's main line, and the movie that evening was “Battle Taxi,” a film about the Korean War. Link placed Willie Allen and Dorothy Christian in his 1952 Buick convertible, and set the view camera above the car on an extension tripod. The back of the camera was then adjusted to place the image in perfect focus from about six feet to infinity.

This photo required two exposures on separate sheets of film, one for the image on the screen, and the other for the rest of the photo. The two negatives were subsequently printed on a single sheet of paper and the resulting print copied on a new negative. It was one of Link's largest setups, requiring 42 No. 2 flashbulbs and one No. 0 (on the couple) to light the photo of time freight No. 78 moving fast eastbound towards Petersburg, Virginia.

[donbga]

Thanks for sharing those details. However I have seen a version of this print with the jet on the movie screen that was physically cut and pasted into the print. I'm curious to know why.

Don Bryant

[Alex Hawley]

Thanks for the details Monophoto. Link was a true master, that's for sure.

[Alex Hawley]

For everyone's edification, I just found that there's now an O. Winston Link Museum.

http://www.linkmuseum.org/

Looks like a good place to spend the rest of the evening.

[dr bob]

Well, it just goes to show you that this site is a remarkable source for everything. When I first connected to the internet in circa 1993, one of the first “surfs” was for O. Winston Link. There was virtually nothing. Until tonight, I never tried again. I give much appreciation to all who gave the good information and the museum link. I pass through (near) Roanoke often and will visit soon.

One reason I was so interested is that I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Mr. Link in 1955 when he was photographing and recording near Virginia Tech. I own the first three LP recordings. The best, IMO, is “Thunder on Blue Ridge” with the sounds of distant train whistles echoing through the mountains. It is not just a collection of artifacts but a symphony of sounds, really – memories from my youth. It had an effect….

[Alex Hawley]

The Museum site talks a bit about his lighting technique. It says O. Winston was educated as a civil engineer (strange how engineering drives one to photography - how many of us are engineers?). He designed and built the sequencing circuitry himself. I was totally wrong about opening the lens then firing the flash bulb separately - that was what he did NOT want to do. He carried thousands of feet of wire; sometimes it would take up to six days to get everything set up.

[ksmattfish]

I have seen a version of this print with the jet on the movie screen that was physically cut and pasted into the print.

I saw a print of the O.W.L. Drive-In like this at the Nelson Atkins Museum in KC. I think it was part of the Hallmark Collection. I had read the version of the story that said it was printed on a single sheet, and was sort of shocked to obviously see that the movie screen was pasted on. I still love it.

I like how in some of his photos if you look close you can see the flash units, particularly when the train is in the background.