John Florea

When last we saw the work of John Florea, it was of his dark and dire photos of the European theater in World War II. Here we are about as far from that subject matter as possible, with these pictures of postwar southern California beach life.

A couple plays cards at Santa Monica Beach, California

  

A man climbs on the roof of Neta's hot dog stand at Hermosa Beach, California

  

A surfer catches a wave in the distance at Hermosa Beach, California

  

A woman sunbathes at Hermosa Beach, California

  

 Belly-sliding, a perilous but pleasant sport, is demonstrated 

by an expert at California's Hermosa Beach

  

 Daring young man flies off trampoline at California's 

Santa Monica Beach, where movie starlets show off

  

Gymnastics in the sand at Hermosa Beach, California

  

Pretty girl gets fast and foamy surf ride on inflated mattress cover at Hermosa Beach

  

 The perils of blanket tossing are happily undergone by pretty Miss Norma Baker with the help of eight husky friends at Hermosa Beach in California

  

Young men take a break for cigarettes and Coca-Cola at Hermosa Beach, California

John Florea

John Florea was a photographer who specialized in celebrity portraits; during World War II he became a photojournalist. This set features some of his World War II pictures. Later in life he became a director of TV shows.

A Soviet soldier (left) and an American soldier (right) pose 

for a photograph after the Allied forces meet in Torgau

  

American soldier looking over the bodies of some of the more than 80 

American POW’s murdered by Nazi Waffen SS panzer unit under the 

command of Lt. Colonel Joachim Peiper, Malmedy, Belgium, December 1944

  

Battle of the Bulge, Belgium, 1945

  

Cologne, Germany, 1945

  

Malmedy 1945

  

American soldiers walking past rows and rows of corpses at the Nordhausen 

concentration camp just after its liberation, Nordhausen, Germany, April 1945

  

German civilians being forced by the Allies to bury prisoners killed 

at the Nordhausen concentration camp, Nordhausen, Germany, April 1945

  

German civilians being forced by the Allies to bury prisoners killed 

at the Nordhausen concentration camp, Nordhausen, Germany, April 1945