Read Time 6 minutes
Visual essay: Christmas in photographs
We’ve curated some of our favourite alternative Christmas photographs from the last 150 years. From Hanukkah on the Upper West Side, to a warm embrace on the cold streets of Berlin — famous faces to complete unknowns. This collection of photographs gives us all the feels. Hit play on the track below and feast your eyes.
SLIM AARONS CAPTURES MRS AARONS FOR CHRISTMAS [1954]
We’ve curated some of our favourite alternative Christmas photographs from the last 150 years. From Hanukkah on the Upper West Side, to a warm embrace on the cold streets of Berlin — famous faces to complete unknowns. This collection of photographs gives us all the feels. Hit play on the track below and feast your eyes.
SNOW, OSAMU YOKONAMI
THERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERE
THERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERETHERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERE
Greer modeling jewelry, NYC, 1985© Nan Goldin
Christmas Show on Madison Avenue, Inge Morath [1958]
Christmas Eve, Malick Sidibé [1963]
Christmas time. Two brothers meet after being separated by the wall. Berlin, West Germany, Ian Berry [1963]
“It snowed on Christmas night. We walked to Times Square to see the white billboard proclaiming WAR IS OVER! If you want it. Happy Christmas from John and Yoko.”
[Patti Smith from Just Kids]
Louise Bourgeois, Alex van Gelder [2009]
Polar Bear Portrait, Tim Flach [c.2016]
Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes Forsteri, Henry Horenstein [1995-2001]
Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, L.I. Diane Arbus [1962]
Coulson Family, Deana Lawson [2008]
Sculpture by Nathan Coley [2009], photographed by Ken Gillies
Christmas, Michigan, Steve Fitch
[May, 1989]
Martha and Alice Christmas Morning, Sian Davey [2013]
Getty Christmas, Slim Aarons [1979]
“I would rather the house
burn down than our flames go out.”
[Christmas Card to Grace Hartigan by Frank O’Hara]
Fisheye Self Portrait with Twin Lens Camera and Christmas Bulb, Geza Vandor [c.1953]
Christmas Window, Oswego County, N.Y., Arthur Rothstein [1937]
A Sabatine Christmas, Martins Creek, Pennsylvania, Larry Fink [1983]
Christmas at Kennedy Airport, Joel Meyerowitz [1968]
Christmas Angel, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Brandon Thibodeaux [2010]
Lilies of the field #1, Bethlehem, Dor Guez
[Christmas Day, 2018]
Antti Laitinen
Hannukah and Christmas, Upper West Side, Gail Albert Halaban [2021]
Ren Hang [date unknown]
Photographer unknown [c.1900]
Photographer unknown
Photographer unknown
Meredith Mullins, courtesy of Jean Paul Gaultier [date unkown]
KEIZO KITAJIMA
Christmas in Harlem, New York, Leonard Freed [1963]
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE TEAM AT DARKLIGHT X
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