Latest news with #Polaroids
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Peacock Chair and the Black Experience
This chair cradles moms-to-be in maternity photos, frames Grammy-winning musicians beckoning from album covers, commemorates factory workers savoring a night out in glossy Polaroids. It has seated presidents and prisoners. This chair — known as the rattan throne or the peacock — makes you sit up straight. It wants you to be seen. Like wall art of Jesus, M.L.K. and J.F.K. and sofas zipped tight in plastic wrap, peacock chairs became hallmarks of Black American décor, starting in the late 1960s. The chair spoke to notions of identity and community that felt new and empowering at the time and were stoked by one of the most indelible photographs of the 20th century. In the photo published in 1968, Huey P. Newton, a co-founder of the Black Panther Party, beholds the viewer from a round-backed wicker chair with a rifle in one hand and a spear in the other. Today, the chair kindles a shared instinct to cherish lives worth celebrating — of sharp-dressed grandparents and fly aunties, anniversaries and graduations — as old and new generations connect to it. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Does the FBI have Epstein's secret photos of Donald Trump?
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Veteran journalist and author Michael Wolff has claimed that Jeffrey Epstein once showed him Polaroid photos of Donald Trump with topless young girls—and that the FBI may now have those images in its on The Court of History podcast with Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz, Wolff recalled an encounter with Epstein shortly after Trump's 2016 election victory. According to Wolff, Epstein went to his safe and pulled out a stack of Polaroids featuring Trump at Epstein's Palm Beach mansion.'They were kind of spread out like playing cards,' Wolff said. 'And it was Trump—with girls of uncertain age.'Wolff said he vividly remembered three of the photographs: 'In two of them, topless girls are sitting on Trump's lap. In another, he has a visible stain on his pants while several girls are laughing and pointing at it.'He estimated the photos were taken between 1999 and 2001. He also speculated that federal agents may have seized the images during the FBI's 2019 raid of Epstein's New York townhouse, which followed Epstein's arrest on sex trafficking charges.'I think it's certainly not unlikely that they were in the safe when the FBI came in after his arrest and took everything,' Wolff FBI has declined to comment on whether such photographs were ever explosive claim adds to ongoing scrutiny of Epstein's links to powerful men—including Trump, who has attempted to downplay their relationship. In a recent interview with NBC, Trump stated: 'Even Epstein's lawyer said I had nothing to do with it … I was not friendly with Epstein for probably 18 years before he died.'Wolff, known for his Trump-era bestseller Fire and Fury, said he had occasional contact with Epstein between 2014 and Trump's first year in office.'Epstein and Trump had been the best of friends for almost 15 years,' he said. 'They came from the same place. They were instrumental in each other's rise.'He added that Epstein often bragged about relationships with world leaders, including Fidel Castro, Mohammed bin Salman, and Vladimir Putin—though Wolff cautioned that Epstein blurred the line between fact and fantasy.'Let's not go overboard,' Wolff said. 'There was a reality—and then there was his augmented reality.'He also revealed that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak held private conversations with Epstein about Trump. 'Ehud was interested in knowing everything possible that Jeffrey could tell him about Trump,' Wolff Elon Musk fueled speculation with a now-deleted post on X, writing: 'Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.'Trump allies, including Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, have dismissed suggestions of a cover-up, with Patel telling Joe Rogan earlier this year: 'There's been like 15 years of people coming in and creating fictions about this that don't exist.'However, as of now, the alleged existence of the photos remains unverified.
The Age
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The discarded suitcase that unearthed a mystery
Our accidental sleuth sniffs out the trail from society pages to Long Bay Gaol registers; library records to Google and Trove. The musician's peripatetic lifestyle crisscrosses the cold trails of Mr Blank's many stunning lovers – models, actresses, a Penthouse Pet, a Japanese stage performer, a Spanish ingénue – whose letters yearn for matrimony or more playful connections. One Miss Cervantes really gets under his skin. 'However beautiful she remained, a troubled woman had stepped into her shoes, and the spirited young lady with the glint in her eye was gone,' Manning writes, deep inside her lovesick correspondence. 'The tissue paper she wrote on had almost dissolved … as if to echo her own unravelling.' Accidental? Well, not every flâneur would see a dead suitcase as a lost soul seeking understanding. Manning's artistic sensibility – visual, lyrical, forensic – drives the story. He's drawn not just to the mystery, but to the theatre of it all. As he dries, sorts and endlessly reshuffles his secret haul of handbills, headshots, Polaroids, newsprint and postcards, a voyeuristic fixation sets in. Soon, Mr Blank becomes a story not just about a flamboyant stranger but about the author's relationship with that man's shadow, and by extension, how we all relate to the ephemera of desire, glamour and secrecy. 'The suitcase was leading me down unsuspecting roads,' he writes as detachment surrenders to passion. 'Along the way, strangers were breaking my heart.' The few photographs reprinted – limited, no doubt, by various redacted parties – only intensify our fascination. We rely on prose to relish the wondrous aesthetics of the era. Via cars, clothes, stationery and architecture, Manning transports himself and his reader into a sumptuous, nostalgic past. How do we feel about Mr Blank? Touched, to see the young man's handwritten list of books for self-improvement. Mixed, when he's sent down, via a wonderfully reconstructed courtroom saga, for black marketing in liquor. Amused, slightly, by the sealed section of a men's magazine the older man saved to hone his boudoir skills. Manning's obsession flirts with madness as later chapters splinter into descriptions of a single photograph or character. Ghosts identified in eureka moments quickly bog down in more questions. 'There were secrets the suitcase would never surrender. No cajoling or sweet words could loosen its grip.' The finder doesn't have it in his heart to be a keeper. His goal shifts from personal enlightenment to the more gallant end of returning papers to identifiable survivors, not all of whom want them. Some hard-won phone numbers and email addresses lead to colourful gossip sessions, others to slammed receivers and lawyers' letters. Meanwhile, Manning's circumstances – writing through pandemic lockdowns in Greece, his music and art projects, the passing of his father, understated parallels with an enigmatic neighbour in his Athens flat – lend resonance. Past and present become a universe of tangents, of which Mr Blank is just one. Loading It all leads to a denouement that's more poetic than satisfying – and more haunting questions. If a single suitcase can spark such a quest, what might your sprawling footprint reveal someday? Whose business will it be, and why? Granted, few can boast a trail as intriguing as the remarkable Mr Blank's. But each of us becomes a puzzle, in the end, for someone else to find – maybe to wonder at, never to solve.
Sydney Morning Herald
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The discarded suitcase that unearthed a mystery
Our accidental sleuth sniffs out the trail from society pages to Long Bay Gaol registers; library records to Google and Trove. The musician's peripatetic lifestyle crisscrosses the cold trails of Mr Blank's many stunning lovers – models, actresses, a Penthouse Pet, a Japanese stage performer, a Spanish ingénue – whose letters yearn for matrimony or more playful connections. One Miss Cervantes really gets under his skin. 'However beautiful she remained, a troubled woman had stepped into her shoes, and the spirited young lady with the glint in her eye was gone,' Manning writes, deep inside her lovesick correspondence. 'The tissue paper she wrote on had almost dissolved … as if to echo her own unravelling.' Accidental? Well, not every flâneur would see a dead suitcase as a lost soul seeking understanding. Manning's artistic sensibility – visual, lyrical, forensic – drives the story. He's drawn not just to the mystery, but to the theatre of it all. As he dries, sorts and endlessly reshuffles his secret haul of handbills, headshots, Polaroids, newsprint and postcards, a voyeuristic fixation sets in. Soon, Mr Blank becomes a story not just about a flamboyant stranger but about the author's relationship with that man's shadow, and by extension, how we all relate to the ephemera of desire, glamour and secrecy. 'The suitcase was leading me down unsuspecting roads,' he writes as detachment surrenders to passion. 'Along the way, strangers were breaking my heart.' The few photographs reprinted – limited, no doubt, by various redacted parties – only intensify our fascination. We rely on prose to relish the wondrous aesthetics of the era. Via cars, clothes, stationery and architecture, Manning transports himself and his reader into a sumptuous, nostalgic past. How do we feel about Mr Blank? Touched, to see the young man's handwritten list of books for self-improvement. Mixed, when he's sent down, via a wonderfully reconstructed courtroom saga, for black marketing in liquor. Amused, slightly, by the sealed section of a men's magazine the older man saved to hone his boudoir skills. Manning's obsession flirts with madness as later chapters splinter into descriptions of a single photograph or character. Ghosts identified in eureka moments quickly bog down in more questions. 'There were secrets the suitcase would never surrender. No cajoling or sweet words could loosen its grip.' The finder doesn't have it in his heart to be a keeper. His goal shifts from personal enlightenment to the more gallant end of returning papers to identifiable survivors, not all of whom want them. Some hard-won phone numbers and email addresses lead to colourful gossip sessions, others to slammed receivers and lawyers' letters. Meanwhile, Manning's circumstances – writing through pandemic lockdowns in Greece, his music and art projects, the passing of his father, understated parallels with an enigmatic neighbour in his Athens flat – lend resonance. Past and present become a universe of tangents, of which Mr Blank is just one. Loading It all leads to a denouement that's more poetic than satisfying – and more haunting questions. If a single suitcase can spark such a quest, what might your sprawling footprint reveal someday? Whose business will it be, and why? Granted, few can boast a trail as intriguing as the remarkable Mr Blank's. But each of us becomes a puzzle, in the end, for someone else to find – maybe to wonder at, never to solve.
Chicago Tribune
30-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Best Polaroid instant camera
In 1948, photography and instant gratification converged when Edwin H. Land invented the first Polaroid camera. Since then, a plethora of new technologies have been developed, yet the Polaroid continues to be a memorable party favorite to cherish. Refilling costs Most Polaroid instant cameras require either ZINK paper or film. Considering film and ZINK paper usually contain only enough for around 10 prints per package, it gets expensive taking pictures with instant cameras. Limited prints As there is usually a small number of prints per package of paper or film, shooting with a Polaroid instant camera means you have a limited amount of shots available, so click wisely. Even if you buy a bulk supply of film or paper, when you run out, you still have to stop and refill, which can be an inconvenience when you're in the moment creating memories. Battery power While some Polaroid instant cameras have rechargeable batteries, most take alkaline batteries. This is another form of frequent maintenance and cost involved in an instant camera that should be taken into consideration. In the modern world, the top quality Polaroid cameras not only have the classic nostalgia of the past but also the technological upgrades of today. Now, you can find many Polaroid instant cameras that include features such as printing and editing options, an app to sync your smartphone with and a rechargeable battery. Rechargeable battery If you don't want the hassle of changing batteries continuously, look for a Polaroid instant camera with a rechargeable battery and charging cable. This way, all you'll have to do is plug it in to charge and get back to snapping photos! App Many Polaroid cameras are now extremely sophisticated and high tech. If you wish to send your Polaroid photograph straight to social media without having to capture a picture of the shot itself, look for the app feature. This is not on every modern Polaroid instant camera, but many have this option. Printing options Unlike with the original Polaroid cameras, many modern models allow you to select which shots you want to print out instead of being stuck with ones you don't like. Another great option is being able to select where to print it to if you have other printers you want to send it to. Depending on where you purchase, for a small basic model, anywhere between about $50-$200. However, for the larger, vintage looking Polaroids, their prices can go all the way up to around $500. Why are my prints blown out? A. Due to most Polaroids being automatic cameras, you can't control or edit light the way you can with digital. However, you can increase the quality of your prints by capturing soft, natural light, such as standing by a window sill in the daytime rather than in direct sun or under light bulbs. Do I have to buy ink for my Polaroid instant camera? A. No. Models in the past required ink cartridges, but through modern developments, the Polaroid technology does not currently need it. Top Polaroid instant camera Polaroid Now+ Black (9061) – Bluetooth Connected I-Type Instant Film Camera with Bonus Lens Filter Set What you need to know: This is the ideal camera if you still want the 'Polaroid' look but also want more customizable features and filters. What you'll love: The Polaroid Now+ produces high-quality prints and is very user-friendly. It also comes with a set of filters, which is a nice bonus. It has lots of customizable features, including autofocus, full manual control, light painting and more. What you should consider: It doesn't include a selfie mirror or any film. Top Polaroid instant camera for the money Polaroid Snap Touch Instant Print Digital Camera What you need to know: It has many capabilities that include an LCD display, which doubles as a viewfinder or photo editor. What you'll love: It can sync with iPhone or Android devices via Bluetooth for printing and has the option to download and store 13 Megapixel photos on an SD card for easy transferal to a computer. It features a built-in 'selfie mirror' as well as a timer to get the perfect group shots. What you should consider: ZINK paper is less costly than film but still expensive regardless. BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
