HET!

I found this curious poster on the west side of Fresno, which has

traditionaly been China Town, but is now more Hispanic than Chinese.

The poster is obviously anti alcohol, but what language is "Het?"

The ethnicity of the person is not completely apparent. Any clues?

David,

 

I did a little researching and I've found that Het means "no" in Russian (strangly it also means "it" in Dutch) and I'm thinking this fits with the poster (i.e. the man saying "no!" to alchohol).

 

I hope this helps. The idea of the picture is great. I might crop a little bit of the wood on the sides. The frame is a great color and it might be better to just have the frame and the picture...but I don't know.

 

Its up to you.

 

Good luck,

 

ben

How stupid of me, not to even think about Googling or something. The poster is completely out of place where I found it. I considered cropping differently and even changing the slant, but decided I really liked the wood grain as kind of an extra frame to the blue one, and that the tilt kind of added to the general incongruity of the photo. And, yes, the washed out blues in the poster and the frame, made my day.

The wood grain has really grown on me actually.

 

And looking at this shot a second time I'm really loving the washed out blue even more.

 

-ben

Funny poster. Great capture. I could not help but comment on how organized the mans plate is. Uniform veggies and everything. As an illustrator myself I find this type of Neo-Rigid illustration fascinating. I would love to see more surrounding the poster, so that we can really tell that is out of place. I imagine this poster hanging in a restaurant bathroom. Of coarse... this poster is out of place anywhere. LOL

Thanks a lot. Yeah, I had not seen a propaganda poster like this for quite awhile. Reminds me of the fifties in our country and of the current state in facist style countries. The faded blue, the off center placement in the frame, etc. all made me quite happy. I tried to find the pic that might show more of the environment, but lost it for the moment. However, it was posted out front of a movie theatre that may or may not be still functioning. It is where playbills would normally be displayed. The ticket window for the same theatre is here: http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5318157

 

Your comment is very much appreciated. Cheers

Great shot, David. Fresno? This looks like something out of sketch on Saturday Night Live. What the hell is the guy being offered, distilled opium? All I can say is "Zbeg skrakl, GRITZKA FUT!"

If you continue to curse me in SanSckritchie, I shall have to report you to the administrators of this site.

Here's a thought. Wouldn't it be ironic if we all took this as an anti-alcohol thing, and came to find out that the reason the guy was rejecting the offering was because he's eating beef, and it should have been RED WINE? He really does look like the sort who would have his p's and q's in line to mix a metaphor. Just look at that plate.

What do you want to bet that Kent B. will have this guy live and in livid color on his site in the next week? I know it'll happen.

That photo is such a classic, het? The plate wih the potatoes (?) all lined up in an orderly row; the double breasted suit; the staunch look of determination as our hero turns down the glass of spiritual poison; and the other guy, the pusher, in his fancy pin striped suit (obviously bought and paid for by the sale of vodka to the underaged and the unwary). What a find! You're right about Kent, he'd turn it into an instant mastepiece and spoil all the fun.

I have to watch you two guys constantly. I'm afraid I would be crazy to even try and improve upon this. You guys have overlooked the obvious and I happen to know what I'm talking about here...the guy is a Mormon missionary and he refusing to imbibe, no wait, the fork is upside down and in his left hand so he must be european so there goes that notion. Maybe it's before five...maybe he's an on duty police officer or maybe he's a spy and doesn't want to...

 

Hey David you never said if this was Fresno?

Well, did you, guys, notice how nicely arranged are the peas on the plate and that the piece of food stuck to the fork doesn't match (size-wise) the other piece that's still on the plate? Not only that, but the piece of meat on the plate is very small, which would indicate a poor person that cannot afford a nice meal, yet he has a fancy suit with a tie. Obviously, this is a phony product. Considering that, maybe he's saying "no" to the small glass and wants a bigger one. Either way, I do agree, that alcohol should be hetted every time: "choose juice and out with booze". Cheers, Micheal

A great find, really. This kind of picture couldn't be found in a country like France, for instance. It is not only interesting in its form, but also in what we can imagine about the history of the place and the people who were once there. It makes us want to know more.

Yes, I do find myself most curious about this little piece of work. It was on an old movie theatre in what used to be the Chinese area of town, but is now largely black and Hispanic. Obviously the guy does not fall into any of those racial groups. And the rigidity of both the body language and the other elements such as the food on the plate and their sytle of dress. And then there is the way it is mismounted in the frame, and the frame's off level tilt. It's just plain curious. Thanks for commenting.

yes it is the old Soviet anti alchohol poster from late 50s/early 60s

it is very faded as original was more into orange bright colors

pity i cannot find now the original on the net

HET. HET. I mean.. you guys .. The NET is the abreviation of modern russian and denish meaning Internet. That is why the chinese took it in in the first place. As for spanish NET is the opposite to GROSS, also in german. But what is the meaning of the blue suite the guy is wearing? I once knew a man from Fresno. He was a bit older but similar looking and just as beautyful, only hairdo was different. He had been wearing a kind of beige&gray bussiness suite of same cut and wore saying NET occasionaly - the only russian word he knew. Find it kind interesting and mystical in a way.

Facinating bit of information. If that poster goes that far back, you sure have to wonder what it is doing haning on a wall in Fresno, California, in 2007.

You are a real enigma. Did you really know a guy from Fresno? Where do you come up with this stuff you say? I haven't got you figured out yet.

Yes, I realy know a guy from Fresno. Worked with him for a few years in Denmark. As for rest of it I hope you will pardone the exessive creativity of my language if such. Many years ago I used to hear lots of Tom Waits songs and were to learn english on this material. It probably shows sometime. Are you and all these pictures in your portfolio from Fresno? One of my mothertongues is russian actualy. Regards. Ilia.

I live about 25 miles south of Fresno. I shoot in Fresno because I cannot affort to travel a lot and it is a fertile ground for my type of insanity. But many of my latest photos have been from Montana and Idaho and Nevada, as I just completed a trip up that way.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4540/nomc6.gif

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some posters you can view there

 

http://www.davno.ru/posters/collections/antialcohol/

 

http://mina.ru/posters/alcohol/

 

http://www.russianhome.com/drink/

 

the pages are in Russian but you can easily guess the navigation by page nubmers

Well seen Dave, a very strange place for a communist poster. The message is Niet phonetically or a strong Russian NO! I should know after 10 years of studying Russian unwillingly ! Great find, I had lots of fun going again through some of your pictures. All the best. Mario

 

Thanks.