Our film and video class was a very tight knit group of hell raisers (we just found out one professor, Peter O’Neill dubbed us “the class from hell”). We scoffed at “the man” who was always trying to bring us down. One example was our Senior Show, the poster for which a member of the class usually designed. For our year they decided instead to give the honor to a grumpy secretary who didn’t like any of us. The result was unmemorable. We, of course, made our own poster anyways and this is it. Our extremely talented friend Tim Lokiec is the artist. I adore!!

From the book 50 Portrait Lighting Techniques for Pictures That Sell by John Hart, 1995.  I find portrait art to be infinitely fascinating.  Hart’s book, apart from introducing the beginning photographer to lighting techniques, is an excellent journey to the mid 1990’s. 

The "wet" lighting technique

Fashion lighting technique

More "wet" lighting

At first these images may not seem quite as magical as those culled from one of my favorite objects ever. But give it some time, scroll down past the Homecoming Court photos to the candids and I think you’ll come to love, as I have, not only the editor’s amazing tone, but also the way that the popular fashions on display straddle the gap between what made things unflattering in the 80′s and what came to define the signature unflattering looks of the 90′s.

There are a number of beautiful, full color pages for your perusal, so please be sure to continue after the jump.

Far and away one of our favorite possessions, the Eagle ’84 is just bursting with amazing and inspiring images. I’ve included the whole senior class in this post but the clubs, homecoming court, underclassmen and candid photos are equally amazing though, sadly, not in full color.

We picked this up on eBay a number of years ago, it originally belonged to a girl named Alice who (as you’ll see in the final two images), everyone found very… nice. Nearly everyone who signed Alice’s yearbook refers to her as a ‘nice’ or ‘sweet’ girl, which is kind of a pulls on my heart stings a little… oh well, she was in like 9th grade at the time so I’m sure by ’88 Alice bloomed. Enjoy!

I happened upon these amazing photographs on Flickr. They we taken by a school teacher who is (unnecessarily) modest about her talents as a photographer. There are over three hundred images in the captivating series, so take some time to sit down and enjoy. I’ve posted a few favorites here and many after the jump.

CORRECTION. I received more accurate information on these shots from a commenter:
“A man by the name of George Plemper who once lived and teached in Thamesmead took these photos. He returned to the area last year and exhibited his photos during Local and Community History Month on behalf of Trust Thamesmead.”

Thanks!

Eagle, 1984, Tyrone, PA