TopFoto Blog

Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species was published (1859) and caused a storm that raged passionately and in some arenas continues to this day. Intellectual giants of the Victorian age hurled thunderbolts of reasoning across the divide, with the Church leading the attack against Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection.

2009 is the 150 years since publication of The Origin of Species and 200 years since Darwin’s birth. Major events are planned worldwide.

Click here for Charles Darwin and the Origin of the Species
Click here for The Darwin Family Tree

wha007033 - 1874 cartoon in reaction to Darwin’s ‘The Descent of Man‘ ©World History Archive / TopFoto
aaac0003531 - Charles Darwin ©AAAC / TopFoto
0221142 - Part of Darwin’s ‘Origin Of Species‘ manuscript ©TopFoto

With co-conquerer of Everest Edmund Hillary dead, and the Chinese controversially including the top of Mt Everest in the Olympic Torch route, as it is carried through occupied Tibet (2009 will be 50 years since the Dalai Lama’s dramatic escape to India), it’s time for at least an armchair exploration of the Everest region.

Be fascinating to hear from you if you have ever tackled the roof of the world,
Tibet’s “Goddess Mother of the Earth”.

Click here for Mount Everest

0516035  - Hillary and Tensing on return to base camp ©Topham / TopFoto
1105704 - View from Gokyo Ri (Gokyo Peak) showing the summit of Mount Everest (8848m) from the west. ©Jon Mitchell / TopFoto

0268730 - The National Trust Village of Chiddingstone, Kent,
24 January 1958 ©John Topham / TopFoto

Next month in history
All of the TopFoto Gallery Packages

In 1909, Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes burst onto the world stage in Paris and dance was changed forever. Nijinksky, Stravinsky, Bakst, Pavlova…the talent Diaghilev nurtured in every sphere was stratospheric, and today’s celebrities pale to nothing in comparison. Achingly glamorous, tempestuous and iconoclastic, they broke free from the constraints of the Russian Imperial Ballet and the world responded with worship and, in 1913, riots. 2010 will see a major retrospective of the Ballet Russes art and design at the Victoria and Albert Museum to celebrate the centenary year.

TopFoto has a huge selection on the Ballet Russes’s vibrant history, but in this gallery we mainly focus on the period to Diaghilev’s death in 1929.

Click for the Ballet Russes

hip0022885 - Iskander‘, costume design for the ballet ‘La Peri‘ c.1913 ©Art Media / HIP / TopFoto
rv1042-16 - Vaslav Nijinsky in ” The blue God ” 1912 ©Harlingue / Roger-Viollet / TopFoto
rv1294-6 - Serge Diaghilev © Roger-Viollet / TopFoto

TopFoto is often asked for images to put a smile on people’s faces.
Here are a few of our recent favourites, we hope you enjoy them.

Have a lovely day.

Looking for an image? requests@topfoto.co.uk

Click to Smile

imw0025909 - Parking sign in Roswell, New Mexico, USA ©The Image Works / TopFoto
0847031 - 6 year old Penny Briggs of Chelsea believes in getting to the bottom of things as she tries her luck at the Lucky Dip 1966 ©Topham / TopFoto

London is the ultimate destination for magic and music this month, with two groundbreaking new productions of The Magic Flute opening simultaneously for Christmas. Kenneth Branagh’s new film version opens in UK cinemas on Friday 30 November and Mark Dornford-May’s new South African stage version opens Thursday 29 November at the famous Young Vic Theatre, in repertory with the same cast’s magic-infused A Christmas Carol.

The Royal Opera House, London, will also be running a production of Die Zauberflöte from 28 January 2008 to 1 March 2008

TopFoto’s gallery celebrates the enduring fascination with Mozart’s beloved opera, and the highly original South African adaptation of A Christmas Carol (Ikrismas Kerol).

Click for The Magic Flute gallery

1104157 - Mhlekazi Andy Mosiea plays Prince Tamino in the new production of The Magic Flute adapted and directed by Mark Dornford-May, opening at the Young Vic Theatre, London on 29 November 2007 ©Andrew Brown / TopFoto
1105138 - Ben Davis as Papageno in the new film version of The Magic Flute directed by Kenneth Branagh, opening in UK cinemas 30 November 2007 ©Rolf Konow / TopFoto

Founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 ullstein bild rapidly established itself as the leading publisher in Germany of newspapers and magazines such as Berliner Illustrirte. Included in the 10000 employees were many outstanding Weimar Republic photographers whose work suvived intact the perils of war.

The company broke up during the political turmoil of WWII but during the 1950s ullstein bild reasserted its position as a leading picture agency and was taken over by publisher, Axel-Springer in 1959.

After a century of growth the ullstein bild picture archive of news photography and photojournalism was, and still is, providing real life pictures - on all areas of life, from all around the world, from the beginnings of photography until today.

In the 21st century ullstein bild is now scanning its archives which are available in the UK in English at TopFoto.co.uk

Click to search directly in ullstein bild

History of Germany from the ullstein bild collection

1871-1938 | 1939-1945 | 1946-1961 | 1962-1988 | 1989-2007

TopFoto’s in-house scanning team today passed a 10,000 milestone for the glass plate negative project, part of the company’s rescue and digitisation of archive imagery.

This rare and lovely material from the 1920s to the 1940s, the key “retro” decades, is crystal quality and every detail shows.

The company celebrated with a round of chocolate éclairs, before getting back to the task of scanning more negatives for the website and TopFoto customers.

Click here to see a tiny selection of images found in the glass plate negative project

0015444 - Tired out before the start - Waterloo, August 1920 ©Topham / TopFoto
0818691 - Lady Diana Manners (Lady Diana Cooper), starring as Queen Elizabeth, helps out with the camera during the shooting of minor scenes in “The Virgin Queen”, 26 October 1922. ©Topham / TopFoto

50 years ago, on 17 February 1958, a group of prominent British citizens – including Bertrand Russell and Canon John Collins – launched the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), claimed to be the largest single issue peace campaign in Europe. TopFoto presents a select “life and times” gallery of CND.

Click here for 50 years of CND

0023200 - The first London to Aldermaston march 8 April 1958 ©Topham / TopFoto
0544313 - CND flag in front of British soldiers at a 2002 protest ©PA / TopFoto

The global debate rages on obesity – dangerous epidemic or gross exaggeration? In the UK, this is arguably the most important moment in social health since the Peckham experiment (Pioneer Health Centre 1926-1950) studied the use of architecture, food and exercise to prevent disease (before the NHS focus on cures).

A sign of great beauty or a sign of greed – whatever the take on size throughout the ages it has rarely been as passionately debated as it is today. TopFoto presents an illustrated history of the fat issue.

The Big Gallery

rv5135-6 - Advertisment for a slimming course - 1895 ©Roger-Viollet / TopFoto