(no subject)

[bluesilverkdg]

You must go here: http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html (Yes, it's totally safe for work, unless your office does not allow laughter.) Thanks to exposit for the awesome link.

If you have ever had portraits made at Olan Mills, Sears or any other photography studio (particularly during the '70s and/or '80s) then you will appreciate it even more.

For the record, my senior picture was taken along the Oregon Trail. I am leaning up on a split rail fence in a couple of the poses, like the pioneer chick I was. When I was about 12, my family and I were photographed in The Library, AND we were yellowy-orange to boot! I'm pretty sure that Camaro Boy asked me to my junior prom. And my mother (still to this day) has me captured in a wine glass in their living room, circa 1989. I don't think that my family personally has any of the other poses/backdrops, but I'm pretty confident that some of yours do! If you'd like to share any of them with me, feel free. We could have a contest: Worst Olan Mills Photographic Experience or something. If any of you have the floating head/full view picture like the second one, I'd be especially interested to see those. My cousins had portraits made like that when I was little, and I was *so* jealous. I wanted one of my very own!

I must go dig up some of my old (bad) photos. I actually worked for a portrait studio just out of high school. I set appointments for them, and by doing so, got free family portraits. (Street value of $199.99!) Fortunately, most of those were just set in front of a plain gray backdrop, except for the one of my mother gazing into a mirror, holding a bouquet of (obviously) fake flowers. Ahhh, the memories..

Comments

[adventuregirly.livejournal.com]

My senior picture was leaning up on a split rail fence, too, lol. I'll have to dig that out after work.

[exposit.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite Wilco songs.

[mpurple.livejournal.com]

omg these were hillarious!!

ps am i a bad person for laughing at the "last known photo of kelli and senor loco" from hiroshima?

[angelsmom.livejournal.com]

Do you remember Jeff Labar from Cinderella? There's an Olan Mills picture...somewhere...of me and my sister and the big hair makes me look just like him. Oy. And to think at the time I really proud of just how big it was... :-P

[darcyzero.livejournal.com]

ohhhhhhhhh this made me laugh so hard!

[cogenthoughts.livejournal.com]

That is great! And I remember in elementary school, there was still a backdrop of a "library" for class pictures. I have a few pics from the late 80s where the class pictures were taken in front of that backdrop that had the neon squares. Awful, awful, awful.

[saladbar.livejournal.com]

That link was hilarious.

[nirol.livejournal.com]

Did you guys have the white ladder prop with the school name stenciled on the side? I'll have to find some of those and borrow a scanner, lol.

[bogartbabe78.livejournal.com]

lol good photos, only got to look at a few, going save the rest for work (yay for stuff I can see at work!) but a few of those, we have pictures as a family with similar background LOL...esp the split fence:-p

[ugotogal.livejournal.com]

Those are fantastic! Sometimes I love the Internet. LOL

re: olan mills

[alcesalces.livejournal.com]

That was a great link! Oh I so can relate-- and since you are the same age an an only child I bet some of our family portraits have similar poses. In one of course I am standing and have my hand on each parent's shoulder- I'm maybe 12 or so. And they got worse!