25 retro photos that will not leave anyone indifferent

There is something fascinating and mysterious in black-and-white vintage photographs. Strangers look at us from them in places we've never been to. But we recognize their emotions, because they are not alien to us; we recognize the style and clothes of that era; we recognize ourselves in these photos…

1. USA, California, 1955. (Photo by Elliott Erwitt/Magnum)

2. Willa Mae Riker and Leon James in a dance, December 31, 1942. (Photo by Gjon Mili/Time & Life Pictures)

3. Little Parisian with a big loaf, 1952. (Photo by Willy Ronis/Agence Rapho)

4. Paris, 1989. (Photo by Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos)

5. A man jumped off a ski jump on Santa Monica Beach in California, July 1, 1948. (Photo by Loomis Dean/Time & Life Pictures)

6. USA, New York, 1988. (Photo by Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos)

7. Dr. Konrad Lorenz, a Viennese scientist and expert on animal behavior, with goslings who take him for their mother, June 1, 1955. (Photo by Thomas D. Mcavoy/Time & Life Pictures)

8. Turning over the tram, San Francisco, 1946. (Photo by Fred Lyon)

9. Children watch the play "St. George and the Dragon" at the puppet theater in Paris, 1963. (Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures)

10. Drummer in uniform from The University of Michigan is practicing a march, and seven children are trying to copy his technique, 1950. (Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures)

11. The family welcomes the released prisoner of war, Lieutenant Robert L. Stirma at an air base in Fairfield, California. He returned from the Vietnam War on March 17, 1973. Ahead are 15—year-old daughter Lori, 14-year-old son Robert, 11-year-old daughter Cynthia, wife Loretta and 12-year-old son Roger. (Photo by Sal Veder/AP Photo)

12. Sacrow, 1934. (Photo by Marianne Breslauer)

13. Paris, 1989. (Photo by Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos)

14. Testing pilot Neil Armstrong on January 1, 1960. (Photo by NASA)

15. USA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1950 (Photo by Elliott Erwitt/Contrasto)

16. Foggy night of 1953. (Photo by Fred Lyon)

17. Allegro Fortissimo Club, Paris, 1990. (Photo by William Klein/’William Klein ABC’/Abrams)

18. Grandma refreshes in the pool at an open fire hydrant under the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, New York, 1993. (Photo by Eugene Richards)

19. Pont Alexandre III, Paris, 1960. (Photo by William Klein/’William Klein ABC’/Abrams)

20. Dance School in New York, 1977. (Photo by Elliott Erwitt)

21. "Pistol 1", New York, 1955. (Photo by William Klein/’William Klein ABC’/Abrams)

22. "I'm a champion!"  Cassius Clay shouts after defeating Sony Liston in the fight for the heavyweight title, February 25, 1964, Miami Beach, Florida, USA. (Photo by Bettmann/Corbis)

23. A man balances on a board on the edge of the roof of a skyscraper in New York, USA, 1939. (Photo by Hulton Archive)

24. Boulevard Saint-Germain, 1961. (Photo by Wim van der Linden)

25. The sailor's return home.