The Past Presented brings images and information relating to historical events of recent decades, primarily – but not exclusively – focused upon aviation and military history, as well as technology and pop culture. The material will generally be derived from the 1920s through the 1970s.
While you may previously have seen some of the content here – in print, or elsewhere on the web – I plan to provide more explanation and a fuller context to “what has gone before”, and hopefully, material entirely new.
My blog’s header image – of an astronaut – by the late John Schoenherr, appeared on the cover of the April, 1962 issue of Analog Science Fact – Science Fiction.
The painting evokes moods of adventure, boldness, mystery, danger, and “the unknown” to remarkable effectiveness, within a color palette limited to varying shades of gray, brown, and blue.
Simply put, the image was chosen because of its “retro” and forward-looking nature.
Some details of the astronaut’s space-suit (a separate oxygen tank connected to military-crested helmet via a SCUBA-like air hose), evoke the technology of a world imagined in science-fiction “pulps” of the mid-20th century: The past. At the same time, the astronaut’s gaze and the dynamism of the scene are fixed upon an unknown horizon: The future.
As such, the painting connotes a theme of this blog: The past… As part of the present.
I cannot help wonder if Schoenherr’s art in some small way influenced the design of the “cover art” (Blu-ray cover art, that is!) of season two of The Expanse. See below…
The content in The Past Presented is derived from material in the United States National Archives (NARA), archived newspapers and periodicals derived from print, microfilm, and digital media, and random, and “one-of-a-kind” documents and memorabilia.
My three other blogs cover other aspects of history, illustration, and art.
My research concerning Jewish military history is on display at:
http://theyweresoldiers.com.
My interests in literature and art (that is, art in books and pulp fiction) are on display at:
http://www.wordsenvisioned.com.
My artistic photography, which parallels my interests in illustration (which came first?!) can be seen at:
http://www.thevisibleworld.photos/.
– Michael G. Moskow