Soldiers Peeling Potatoes

Armies, unsurprisingly, used lots of  potatoes in their cooking, and soldiers, unsurprisingly, were often set the task of peeling them. What is rather surprising is just how regularly photographers captured this event on film....

© IWM (SE 2022)

British soldiers peeling potatoes, Burma, 1945. Source

Library and Archives Canada

Canadian soldiers peeling potatoes, 1916. Source

Library and Archives Canada

Canadian soldiers peeling potatoes, 1916. Source

Studio Portraits with Bicycles

The other month we had a look at people and their bicycles--outdoors, riding, or posed close to a ride. This natural look, however, isn't the only one in the history of cyclist photographry. Particularly in the 19th century, people with an affection for their bicycles have used them as props in professional studio portraits as well. 

State Library of Queensland

A young man in a studio with a penny-farthing, Queensland, Australia, 19th C. Source

Smithsonian Institution

Artist Elihu Vedder in the studio with his bicycle, ca. 1910. Source

State Library of New South Wales

Schoolteacher Miss Marley, Narraburra, New South Wales, Australia, ca. 1910. Source