1906 San Francisco earthquake scene – wiggle animation

July 21, 1906 - On duty "amid the encircling gloom" of a city's certain destruction. Magnificent fire scene near Union Ferry Bldg. San Francisco, U.S.A.

View the original image from the Library of Congress here.

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1906 SF Earthquake Wiggle Animation

1906 - A crude post office - reorganizing the mail service after the earthquake. San Francisco, Cal.

You ever wonder how things that seem so obvious simply don’t occur to you sometimes? That’s what I felt when I created this animation.  Originally the girl was blurry because I wanted to keep the writing on the signs clear. Then I started masking out some areas to make the image more consistent, and poof, it occurred to me – desaturate everything but the girl. This isn’t the perfect animation for this kind of effect. When a subject is considerably closer or farther from the lens, you gain a huge wiggle in either the background or foreground, which is the case with this image.   But I’m looking forward to seeing what this effect can bring the right animation.

It seems poetic considering the circumstances. She kind of reminds me of the girl in the red coat in the movie Schindler’s List. Amidst the mess that this young child must have seen, she still gets excited about getting her picture taken. She looks happy. The devastation of the SF earthquake was truly horrific. According to wiki, the death toll was estimated to be above 3,000. Check out some of the panoramic images here. Towards the bottom there are some broader views that give us an idea of the scope of destruction.

Click the image for the big version. See the full collection at clicksypics.com. To find out how these are created, go here.

View the original image from the Library of Congress here.

1906 House of Mirth – Stereoscopic Animation

1906 - Fun making by the earthquake refugees - a temporary home - San Francisco, Cal

Click the image for a much larger view.  See the full collection at clicksypics.com. To find out how these are created, go here.

View the original image from the Library of Congress here.