On the Trail With Ken Burns

(The Daily Beast) - The Ken Burns Effect—the technique of slowly zooming in on a black and white photograph (usually accompanied by trumpet fanfare or an authoritative voice reading a diary entry from early America)—has become so culturally ingrained that an entire misfit corner of YouTube is now dedicated to aping it. These parodies include The Three Stooges, The Office, and LolCats. And while none can rival Burns’ actual, painstakingly researched historical documentaries, the 56-year-old filmmaker has a sense of humor about the mockery. “This is just my style!” he tells The Daily Beast. “I explored the interiors of photographs, and of course it's ripe for spoofing. Just as Cezanne painted the same mountain all his life, this is simply what I do.” Continued

Photo: My mom, climbing Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in 1937. (They don't let you do that anymore.)