Some old ephemera I acquired from the late newsreel/early TV era from the estate of a long-since passed newsreel photog. What the then $8 membership fee with the NPPA got for you in 1958. Oh, the fundraisers mentioned on page 12 (page 9 online) that are “in good taste, dignified, business-like etc.” – one of […]

Going through my archives to look up information on a photog who was killed in an accident decades ago for a project and I find a mention in an article about Thomas Proffitt saying he shot the Hindenburg disaster. History says that the Universal Newsreel cameraman who was assigned to cover the Zeppelin arrival that […]

“News is public domain. A news outfit in quest of a news beat might steal a story from under the opposition’s nose, but they won’t buy it!” – Norman Alley On September 22, 1927, heavyweight boxer Gene Tunney was scheduled to defend his title against William Dempsey at Chicago’s Soldiers Field. In a foreshadowing of […]

1920s Prohibition-era Chicago was a place with a notorious reputation as a lawless city. At the helm with seemingly inexorable power over politicians, police and the supply of alcohol demanded by the Chicagoans, was Al Capone and his extensive network of underlings. With the height of the gang-fueled feudalism as the backdrop, newsreel photographer Norman […]

Greetings to visitors from b-roll.net
If you are new here, I would highly suggest starting with the “recollections” page to get a feel for what all I have posted here.
– Amanda

Newsreel cameramen, despite the then public’s vaguely romantic images of them, were rather businesslike and efficient. If there was a way to make their job easier, they did it. Three Paramount News cameramen, Joe Johnson, Irby J. Koverman and Marshall G. McCarroll, came up with a way to deal with the constant questions bystanders would […]