Finding Joel Pahl Dardis

Tag: Photography

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Tau Kappa Kappa, Box 33, 1947

    Tau Kappa Kappa, Box 33, 1947

    Joel photographed one of the social events of the Tau Kappa Kappa living community. There’s no specific date other than the expiration date for the box is labeled as July 1947. Verifying with images from Naranjado, I can confirm that, although the majority of faces line up with 1948 Tau Kappa Kappa images, some faces…

  • More, Box 29, 1947

    More, Box 29, 1947

    Joel’s attempts to photograph through a storefront window stood out in the remainder of this box. It is notoriously difficult to get the subject right because of the reflections. I do sense this was a photography class assignment. And these reflections, in addition to see-through opportunities, can give us additional clues. There’s a partial “C…

  • Catch-All, Box 29, 1947

    Catch-All, Box 29, 1947

    This box had 31 negatives and covers quite a few subjects but also has a number of negatives that are clearly rejects for various reasons. Still, Joel didn’t throw anything away. And even the rejects give us insight in what he likes to photograph. The only writing on this box is “Weston 50”. The latter…

  • Box Car City, Box 25, 1946

    Box Car City, Box 25, 1946

    I took me some research to figure out what the contents were of this box. The lid had following notations; Houses, Terminous, Woodbridge, Stockton 1946. Checking the history of Terminous online, I found a reference to “Box Car City” and then the light bulb went on. All these shacks were clearly built on box car…

  • More Fire, Box 22, July 1947

    More Fire, Box 22, July 1947

    About 10 images from this box were discussed already in the Poultry Fire blog post. To my surprise, there were more images of another fire I can’t place. It’s a lot smaller, near Pacific Union Railroad and it looks like it may have been a small industrial installation or so. Joel is still some distance…