2015: Old images to brighten up a new year

In 2014 I experienced the deaths of more friends, colleagues and family members than I had ever had to deal with so far in my life. It felt as if I had jumped straight from attending weddings, christenings and baby showers straight to funeral services.

I am determined, however, to dive headlong into 2015 with positivity, whatever surprises (and sadnesses) this year brings. With that in mind, I have chosen some of the curiouser images from the akg archive for this selection, a collection of the bizarre, the odd, the sometimes unexplained and the often unexplainable: why are those nuns frolicking full-habit in the ocean? Was frying pan tennis a brilliant invention or the result of a (drunken) bet? And who on earth came up with the idea of peanut suits?

What I find so pleasing about this selection of images is how warm-hearted the photographs of people are. No one is being made fun of or belittled and if the photograph is meant to be a joke, the subjects in the photograph are in on it already.

Enjoy the oddity of these vintage photographs, with my full selection of curiosities over on the akg website.