Before there were selfies, there was Kodachrome

Now, British filmmaker Lee Shulman has assembled about 300 images, taken with Kodacrhome, in “Midcentury Memories: The Anonymous Project,” a new book that takes us back to the 1950s and 1960s.

What we see in some of those images is no different from the parade of daily happenings that we observe if we visit social media—especially Facebook and Instagram—- people doing daily things: friends sitting laughing in a living room, an old uncle who fell asleep in the middle of a party, a family in front of an iconic sign of the World’s Fair. Here is one of those images:

Image from the new book “Midcentury Memories: The Anonymous Project,”

A book blurb reminds us of what it is all about:

50 years ago, people used film cameras just as we use smartphones in the age of Instagram. They photographed their meals, holidays, loved ones, celebrations, and family reunions.

For those digital natives who may have no idea about Kodachrome.

Kodachrome slides are rectangular pieces of color reversal film encased in cardboard that were loaded into slide projectors and beamed onto walls. The film itself was introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1935, and it helped popularize photography among regular people after World War II.

I have my collection of Kodachrome slides, always thinking that I will convert them to digital images, but never doing so, like many of you.

I also keep carrousels of slides related to newspaper design, some of which I dust off from time to time, lifting the image to the light to “rediscover” a project from a long time ago.

Bottom line: we always have been and always will be interested in storytelling, especially our own stories.

This book is a reminder of that.

Here is a visual blast from the past: Kodachrome

Get the book here

https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05350/facts.midcentury_memories_the_anonymous_project.htm

The power of red and black

During last weekend, as I traveled through Austria and Germany, my eyes moved to the examples of front pages below, all making combinations of black and red work so well. Take a look:

Listen to my chat with Tyler Brulé in Monocle 24 Radio’s The Stack

This episode of Monocle’s The Stack was recorded live during the launch of my book, The Story, in Zurich, November 20 before a live audience. Tyler Brulé and I talk about the state of the media today, the makings of The Story, as well as the meaning of doing print happily in the mobile first era. Tune in here:

https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-stack/378/play/

From Monocle Weekend

THE INTERROGATOR / EDITION 30

https://monocle.com/minute/2019/09/21/

Mario García

Editorial consultant Mario García has advised the most important newsrooms in the world on design – and how best adapt to a digital transition. More than 700 publications, from The Wall Street Journal to the South China Morning Post, have received his strategic steer. Other than being an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, he also runs his own consultancy firm: García Media. Nowadays his speciality is how digital devices influence narrative structure and consumption; his latest book, The Story, was written specifically to be read on a phone. Here, though, he confesses to a few analogue pleasures.

What they are saying about The Story!

The Story is here!

You can now download my new mobile storytelling book, The Story, from Apple Books at $6.99
This is Book 1 of a Trilogy! The other two books coming soon.
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-volume-i/id1480169411

The newspaper remains the most powerful source of storytelling on the planet. But technology threatens its very existence. To survive, the Editor must transform, adapt, and manage the newsroom in a new way. Order The Story by Mario Garcia, chief strategist for the redesign of over 700 newspapers around the world.

My chat with in Monocle Radio

Listen to my chat in Monocle Radio’s The Stack: Latest episode‘The Face’ and ‘The Story’:We welcome the return of the print version of ‘The Face’ and talk to legendary newspaper designer Mario Garcia about his latest book, ‘The Story’.
https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-stack/368/play/

My interview with CNN en Español

I was a guest in the program Encuentro, hosted by Guillermo Arduino daily at CNN en Español. The interview was about how we read on mobile devices and my introduction of my new mobile storytelling book, The Story, to a Spanish-language audience.

García: Si tienes una buena historia, la gente la va a leer