My mother-in-law's house is wall to wall pictures like this. To her, these pictures are wonderful memories of when her kids were young... to her kids, it's a blood curdling gallery of shame. There's just something about those professional portraits from this era that just exudes "seventies-ness" in its rawest form.
The next three B&W portraits simply cry out for recognition on Retrospace. You don't need color to exhibit that seventies flair, and here is the proof. Is it possible to be both amazingly awful and amazingly awesome at the same time? I think these pictures will answer that question for you.
I can't quite figure this next one out. It seems to be a dance photo, yet the dude isn't dressed for the occasion. I know we were pretty casual back in the day, but this seems a tad too informal. Where's the baby blue polyester suit with the butterfly collar?
The seventies weren't a particularly good time for folks wearing glasses. Contact lenses weren't in use for the most part, and so you were stuck with maybe one or two versions of ugly. The tinted ones were the worst.
Damn, I love these old anonymous photos. What's the story with this couple? He looks like kind of an ass, and she looks like she likes to swing. I guess I'm just too distracted by the hair to give a good assessment.
...and here's another similar couple with good looking girl with fugly male.... another couple of swingers? It was the seventies after all, so odds are they were.
And last but not least, here's a few from a brilliant photo set on Flickr. All found photos and negatives from the 70's and 80's by James Mc Intyre, Croton on Hudson N.Y... Beautiful to behold.