At its core, photography is a mixture of art and science. The art world understands the ‘art’ half of photography but doesn’t understand the ‘science’ half. A photograph is a one-to-one mapping of a scene that is in front of a camera. If the scene has been created especially to be photographed, then photography is just being used as one of many image-creating techniques which carry no different meanings from each other. When the scene in front of the lens is not directorially created, though, it has a scientific, evidentiary, documentary value - it is a record of fact which can be analyzed, and from which discoveries can be made.

For fans of Mid-Century modern design, this classic image above from Playboy, July 1961 is like the Holy Grail.  Design masters & fellow peers in their prime, beautifully captured in a time that was aesthetically crisp, uncluttered and innovative.