Finding Joel Pahl Dardis

Month: June 2022

  • Ferguson, Box 41, April 1948

    Ferguson, Box 41, April 1948

    Joel pencilled “Fersgsen (sic)” and “April 9-10, 1948” with “24 shot” on the Super Panchro Press Kodak Sheet FIlm box A total of 24 negatives, all about the same subject. A scan of Naranjado 1948 confirmed that the young lady was Mary Ann Ferguson, a freshman in 1948. A check through Pacific Weekly shows she…

  • Enigma, Box 40, April 1948

    Enigma, Box 40, April 1948

    This box of negatives is a bit of an oddball. There’s a Feb 26, 1948 date pencilled in the corner of the lid. And (sic) “baptislau” … Joel’s scribbles leave a lot to be desired at times. Baptismal. There are indeed negatives in the box of a baby getting all dressed up for a baptismal,…

  • Omega Phi, Box 39, 1948

    Omega Phi, Box 39, 1948

    The box has Omega Phi penciled in the corner with a date of February 13, 1948. It’s actually Omega Phi Alpha, and yes, this is another dance party. Looking at the negative, I can only think that Joel took a lesson from his previous dance party coverage and paid more attention during exposure and developing.…

  • 3D Art COP, Box 38, 1948

    3D Art COP, Box 38, 1948

    These images are most likely from the start of 1948. Joel graduates in February 1948 and it is yet not clear if he’ll continue to photograph in his familiar College of Pacific bubble where he spent the last years since his return from his service in WW II. When I was printing these pieces of…

  • Basketball, Box 38, Jan 1948

    Basketball, Box 38, Jan 1948

    Before we look at images, today’s post is on June 6, 2022, and that would have been my 101st birthday ! Although I’m in reality stuck at 100, I’m having a lot of fun reliving taking all those images you’re all looking at. My goodness ! Happy Birthday to me ! Today we’re going through…

  • Rhizomia, Box 37, Dec 1947

    Rhizomia, Box 37, Dec 1947

    Rhizomia Dance, Dec 18, 1947 + Carol Singers, is what Joel scribbled in the corner of the box of Kodak Sheet FIlm with a price tag of $1.92. Rhizomia is one of the living groups at College of the Pacific, and they had their own social schedule, no different than the other sororities, fraternities and…

  • Fireworks, Box 36, 1946-48

    Fireworks, Box 36, 1946-48

    There are a total of 16 images in this box, covering multiple subjects. Some of these belong in other boxes, nothing unusual, these negatives were picked over a few times. The pencil date on the box is 1947, there are images in there that belong to the next box to discuss. Two fireworks images are…

  • Stragglers, Box 35, 1946-48

    Stragglers, Box 35, 1946-48

    A box of 16 negatives and only a single date on the box, 1946. Stragglers of sorts, as on first sight, they don’t belong together. A closer look though, reveals that these images relate well to previous blog posts. In short, they are all misplaced stragglers of sorts. The first image I scanned stood out…

  • Sports, Box 34, 1948

    Sports, Box 34, 1948

    We’ll look at the other images of negative box 34. There are no notes related to content. First set of images is from a COP diving contest. The score board reads COP vs SM It’s clear why the first image got selected for publishing. It’s a clear shot with perfect timing, and a minimum of…

  • Photo Stories, Box 34, 1948

    Photo Stories, Box 34, 1948

    Telling stories with photos is nothing new, but it is an art that needs to be mastered by photographers. How to convey a story in an image (or few images), sounds easy, but it’s not. This particular box has some good material in it. The negative box has “Weekly 1948” written on it. Not clear…