An events-packed Saturday on the Old Northside of Indy

A week ago Saturday (June 11), I spent the day in the Old Northside neighborhood of Indianapolis, photographing a series of events occurring simultaneously.

I started at the President Benjamin Harrison House, where they were holding the annual Wicket World of Croquet Tournament. Participants were dressed in all-whites, and competition was held throughout the day. A jazz-pops combo, which included noted Indiana jazz photographer Duncan Schiedt on keyboards (pictured in top of post), performed on the House's porch, providing music throughout the day. The tournament had an Alice in Wonderland theme, and several volunteers spent the day dressed up in what had to be uncomfortable costumes on a very warm, humid day, portraying characters from the timeless animated motion picture classic.

Next I stopped at the Propylaeum two blocks north on Delaware Street, where they were sponsoring a two-day Beer Garden in the Yard -- dinners of salmon, chicken or sausages along with beverages, a live acoustic duo and some fashion and craft jewelry for sale.

A block up the street from there, the annual Independent Music & Art Festival unfolded from noon to 8 p.m. I finally made it there about mid-afternoon and caught a few numbers by Indianapolis hip-hop performer TJ Reynolds and his collaborators.

My last stop was yet another block north, where the popular annual Talbot Street Art Fair was taking place. All in all, a lot of activity in a very compact area in Indianapolis.

Above and next two below: The annual Wicket World of Croquet Tournament unfolded on the grounds of the President Benjamin Harrison House.  

Above: As the players competed, a jazz combo provided musical ambiance from the front porch of the Harrison House. One of the performers was noted Indiana jazz photographer Duncan Schiedt, who played keyboards ... and whose image is reflected in the tuba.

 

Above: Schiedt was born on the East Coast in 1921 and lived there until moving to Indiana in 1951. More than a photographer and musician, he so loved Indiana jazz that he authored a book about its history, "The Jazz State of Indiana." The Indianapolis Museum of Art had a gallery of his jazz photography on exhibit for several months in 2001.
 

Above:  This year's Wicket World of Croquet had an "Alice in Wonderland" theme. These volunteers dressed up in the classic tale's characters (from left) the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, Alice and the Queen of Diamonds.

Above: Two other volunteers, also in character, played the roles of President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison.

 

Above: I enjoy photographing someone else taking pictures of others. In this instance, I was intrigued by how the women seemed to be enjoying themselves ... but the guy?

 

Above: An apparent false alarm in the apartment complex north of the Harrison House brought out a full complement of firetrucks.

 

Above and below: At the Propylaeum, these salmon fillets and sausages were part of the grill offerings Saturday for those who chose to have lunch on the grounds during the Propylaeum's Beer Garden in the Yard.

Above: In addition to grilled food, the Propylaeum's menu included a choice of brew and these wines. 

Above and below: The Propylaeum's grounds also featured a bazaar, where fashions and crafted jewelry were for sale.

 

Above: Providing music for Beer Garden in the Yard were this duo. I was impressed after they played the one and only countrified arrangement of Michael Jackson's monster hit "Billie Jean" that I've ever heard.

 

Above and below: Just a block north of the Propylaeum on Delaware Street, Indy hip-hop performer TJ Reynolds and his collaborators (that's Joseph Lehner on drums below) performed as part of the annual Independent Art & Music Festival. The IAMF had a daylong bill of local talent, performing from noon to 8 p.m.

 

Above: And just north of the IAMF was the popular Talbot Street Art Fair, where these people were walking past vendors set up along East 16th Street.

 

Above: These colorful storefront decorations were along 16th Street, east of Delaware Street.

Lincoln portrait plate gets cleanup to mark his 200th birthday

In observance of our 16th president's 200th birthday Feb. 12, the George Eastman House Museum of Photography and Film embarked on a project to restore the original transparency plate used to print Abraham Lincoln's favorite portrait of himself (above).

The project actually began in 2006, when the owner of a duplicate of the plate -- a collector who for years didn't realize he owned source material for the treasured 1860 portrait (and who wished to remain anonymous) -- sent the duplicate transparency to the Eastman museum, according to a story by the Associated Press.

The profile of a beardless, bow-tie-wearing Lincoln -- one of two frames available from that shoot -- was taken on June 3, 1860, in Springfield, Ill., not long after Lincoln announced his candidacy for the presidency.

Photographer Alexander Hesler recorded the images on a wet-plate collodion negative. It later was transferred to a high-resolution silver-gelatin interpositive glass plate (top left), then a new technology from which several thousand prints were made and sold in the late 19th century (top right).

Portions of the plate and the duplicate, however, were accidentally shattered during a shipment to St. Louis by parcel post in 1933.

The original glass plate and fragments ended up as an artifact in a Smithsonian Institution vault, but the duplicate disappeared mysteriously, only to end up years later in possession of the anonymous collector. It's the 8"x10" duplicate that was sent to the Eastman museum for repair and restoration.

"That looks better and expresses me better than any I have ever seen,'' Lincoln said of the Hesler portrait in a letter to the photographer. "If it pleases the people, I am satisfied.''

Other portraits of Lincoln are included here as well. The clean-shaven Lincoln (framed in oval above) also was taken in 1860.

The first bearded shot of Lincoln was taken on Nov. 8, 1863, by Alexander Gardner. While waiting for the shot to be set up, the president read a newspaper account of the speech that famed orator Edward Everett would make at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg. Lincoln would also speak at Gettysburg, of course, but he had yet to compose his remarks, promising only that they would be “short, short, short.”

The second bearded image was taken in February 1865, two months before his death. The negative was cracked after it was developed.

For the full AP story on the plate restortation project, visit the Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph Web site by clicking on the link in this sentence. For more reading on the Lincoln portraits, visit these sites:

National Portrait Gallery: The Many Faces of Lincoln

Smithsonian Institution research on Lincoln portraits

Millikin University collection of two frames from the Hesler 1860 sitting