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

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

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

How do we get on the housing ladder? What will we do when the oil runs out?

TopFoto doesn’t have the answers but we do have a great collection of images for an alternative look at transport and housing. TopFoto presents just a few of our favourites

Alternative Housing

Alternative Transport

1053126 - Mr. and Mrs. Steward at the door of their thatched roof trolley bus, 1952 ©Topham / TopFoto
1093477 - Professional frogman Courtney Brown tows a 55-foot scale model of the Titanic ©Topham / TopFoto

In the first London Olympic Games, 100 years ago (July 1908), Italian marathon runner Dorando Pietri collapsed 5 times from dehydration but kept going until finally deprived of his win by hasty aides who helped him over the finish line. Pietri got a special award in recognition of his great showing of the Olympic Spirit.

With 300 days to go until the Beijing Games, and British eyes on London 2012,
TopFoto presents a gallery of every Summer Olympic Games throughout history.

0007216 - Italian marathon runner Dorando Pietri at the 1908 London Olympics ©Topham / TopFoto
0091573 - Passing the Olympic Flame on its way to the 1948 London Olympics ©Topham / TopFoto
0827960 - Kelly Holmes wins the 1500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics ©Professional Sport / TopFoto