November 1940. "Boomtown store near Shasta Dam construction site, Shasta County, California." Medium format negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

Los Angeles, July 1965. "Entertainer Johnny Carson on the 'Tonight' Show delivering a monologue." 35mm negative from photos for the Look magazine assignment "Johnny Carson, the prince of chitchat, is a loner." View full size.

April 1941. "The movies are popular in the Negro section of Chicago. Regal Theater and Savoy Ballroom in the Southside neighborhood." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

December 1941. "Saint Croix, Virgin Islands. Science class at the Christiansted high school." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size.

April 1941. "Schoolchildren in Franklin, Heard County, Georgia." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Circa 1905. "Keene Valley, old mill on the Ausable River, Adirondack Mountains, N.Y." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Mohonk Lake, N.Y., circa 1902. "Sky Top from rear of Mohonk Mountain House." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1908. "Crowd at Belle Isle Park casino." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

1956. Edina, Minnesota. "Interior Garden Court with stairway to upper level in Southdale Regional Shopping Center, the first enclosed shopping mall." Color transparency by Grey Villet, Life magazine photo archive. View full size.

Dutchess County, New York, circa 1902. "Mount Beacon Casino and power house, Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, N.Y." At right, a car of the Mount Beacon Incline Railway. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.

Indianapolis circa 1904. "North Delaware Street." Our third visit to this leafy enclave. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Co. View full size.

Indianapolis, Indiana, circa 1904. "Illinois Street, north from Washington." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.

August 1864. "Camp of Chief Ambulance Officer, 9th Army Corps, in front of Petersburg, Virginia." Albumen print, photographer unknown. Civil War Glass Negatives and Prints collection, Library of Congress. View full size.

"Portrait of Billie Holiday at the Downbeat club, New York, ca. February 1947." Medium format negative by William Gottlieb. View full size.

        I especially tried to capture personality, but that's an elusive quality, and I was successful only a portion of the time. But I certainly hit it on the button here with a picture of Billie Holiday, whose voice was filled with anguish. I also tried to catch the beauty of her face -- she was at her most beautiful at that particular time, which was not too long after she had come out of prison on a drug charge. She couldn't get at any drugs while she was incarcerated, or alcohol, and she lost weight and she came out looking gorgeous, and her voice was, I think, at its peak. And I was fortunate enough to have spent some time with her during that period, and I caught this close-up of her in a way that you could really see the anguish that must have been coming out of her throat.

-- William Gottlieb, 1997

San Francisco circa 1930. "Marmon Big Eight rumble seat coupe at Golden Gate Park." Today's entry in the Shorpy Baedeker of Brobdingnagian Buggies. 5x7 inch glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size.