My approach to deciding which image to use to match the weekly Sepia Saturday theme, tends to be to look at the prompt image and then get out my big box of old family photographs and sort through them until something catches my eye. It might catch my eye because it clearly matches a theme or it might catch my eye because it matches a mood. Occasionally I am not quite sure why a particular photograph catches my eye - but it does. This is one such occasion.
It's the seaside, I suppose. It's the fact that the subject - in this case my father - is central to the image, looking out, sure of his place in the world. It is the sands, drained of colour by the photographic emulsion, but as gritty as a shovel-full of Blackpool's finest. And it is the background figures, going about their business, ignorant of the fact that part of their soul has been captured for ever and will be exposed to the wide world eighty years later.
It is all these things; but what mainly made this photograph jump out of the box was those shoes. Oh, I so want those shoes. Why didn't they pass down the family line into my hands .... or onto my feet. I could face the world in those shoes. I could rule the world, I could eradicate poverty and banish wars for ever. Put a pair of those shoes on my feet and I could even finally finish the Sepia Saturday Anniversary book.
Slip on the shoes and walk on over to the Sepia Saturday Blog and see what everyone else is posting this week.
Very natty, and don't they go well with the baggy tweed trousers, complete with turn-ups. Ideal 'rig' for the beach!
ReplyDeleteAt least your father isn't wearing a tie at the beach, as mine was!
ReplyDeleteYes, you can find shoes to finish the book (I hope) but I think you've written poetically about your yearning to fill your father's shoes...though maybe you are less interested in the symbolism and more the literalism!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I am quite curious...many of the blogs with photos of beaches in England show everyone fully dressed, and few bathing costumes. Was that due to the season and possible cold weather, or did British people just enjoy the beach fully dressed, and only change into bathing costumes if they were getting into the water?
ReplyDeleteDee
A thought for Dee, as was also the case back in the days on beaches in America, folks were often dressed like they were on their way to places other than the beach, and even in their bathing outfits, so little skin was allowed to be shown! Great photo Alan, and shoes or no shoes you'll get it all handled!
ReplyDeleteThey are great shoes. I have a pair very like them. What's more, as a kid I had a pair almost identical that I had long forgotten about, but I know where there is a photo of me wearing them!
ReplyDeleteThe white shoes on the lady in the background really stand out too.
Great shoes! And the socks are no slouch, either - especially when paired with the shoes. Your father was obviously a strong individual who saw his own way with things - clothing & otherwise I suspect, tho' he was probably pretty much in style for the times. I've seen shoes similar in old-timey photos. Kat mentioned the white shoes on the lady in the background - yeah, with heels no less - on the beach! English beaches aren't the only ones catering to folks fully dressed, however. Back in the days, folks on San Francisco beaches dressed the same & sometimes still do as it can get pretty chilly there.
ReplyDeleteSuch marvelous shoes!
ReplyDelete"For he was more than over shoes in love."
ReplyDeleteWilliam Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona...
Not only cool shoes, but look at the socks. I'm also sure that you could at least do a Fred Astaire!
ReplyDeleteThose shoes could certainly inspire one to conquer the world, as you said. Great photo.
ReplyDeleteThe hats! The vests! The suit coats! Wonderful shoes, but are you sure they could face the world without the trousers?
ReplyDeleteOh the shoes caught my attention right off...sun in his eyes and he takes matters into his own hands to remedy that! Good selection..
ReplyDeleteFantastic photo for all the above reasons. And yet another example of the photographer's shadow caught on camera as well.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I think your father is shielding his eyes to look at a poor imitation of Felix the Cat?
ReplyDeleteTrick photography I guess.
My husband has golf shoes very like these - if I sneak down and get them, and post them to you, can you finish the anniversary book ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for making me smile.
ReplyDeleteThe lady's shoes also caught my eye. The sand at your beaches must be different to ours. There is no way that you would be able to keep closed fitting shoes on comfortably for very long when at our beaches!
Very flash, or do I mean flashy, shoes! As Sharon says, wearing shoes on the beach is very counter-cultural for Aussies.
ReplyDeleteMy grandpa wore a three-piece suit on the beach and the same hat he wore to work. A little like the guy walking past in the background here. I don't think his socks were ever this exciting.
ReplyDeleteThe shoes got me in too. How very grand and dapper they look. Perhaps they were the equivalent of the fancy track shoes worn now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I suppose those shoes could save the world (or a Sepia anniversary book). But they could easily complement a red nose that beeps too. Nah -- just kidding. I love that dapper look myself.
ReplyDeleteThat is definitely an eye-catching photo!
ReplyDeleteI recognized your father right off. What does it mean when you begin to "know" fellow sepians family members on sight?
ReplyDeleteJust one image - but what a strong one. Those striped shoes remind me of some of the colourful trainers you see today - so your father was ahead of his time!
ReplyDeleteThought provoking as ever Alan. Trust us both to focus on the sands - in a different way - and yet.....
ReplyDeleteA gorgeous photo with an interesting commentary. A good example of how to write a SepSat entry.
ReplyDeleteReminded me of a pair of golf shoes that I refused to buy despite them being my size and in a 1$ sale. Love the photo.
ReplyDeleteThose shoes have come back into fashion now. Not sure about the trouser turn-ups, especially on a beach, they'd get full of sand. At least he didn't feel the need of a knotted handkerchief on his head.
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