Friday, January 06, 2017

Sepia Saturday 349 : A Simple Old Photo And A Thought Or Two



It's ages since I did a Sepia Saturday post - so I am marking a new year with a new resolution. However, the prompt for Sepia Saturday 349 must be one of the hardest ones of all for a photographer to match - we photographers pride ourselves in taking pictures rather than featuring in them (indeed, there is a school of psychology which suggests that people become photographers in order to avoid appearing in photographs). 


After searching through all my old photographs and all my family photographs, I came up with no potential theme-matchers. It was only when I turned to the drawer full of unknown and unloved photographs that I identified a possibility.  A possibility may have been identified - but that was the only thing identifiable about this simple old print. The young chap could be anyone. The sea looks Bleak British Grey; but it is a monochrome photo and it might be the sunny Caribbean for all I know. The half a name looked hopeful - I suspect it must be "Cardiff", but the only ship of that name I can find is a container ship built in 2014. I cannot even positively identify the make of camera the young chap has slung over his shoulder, although it looks like one of those fold-down bellows roll film cameras popular in the 1940s and 50s.

Despite all the unknowns, Sepia Saturday has forced me to look at this simple old photographs and think a thought or two. And that, is what Sepia Saturday is all about.

To see what others are doing this Sepia Saturday, go to the Sepia Saturday Blog and follow the links.

12 comments:

  1. Don't despair - I betcha Brett can look at that case and tell you the make, the year, and the name of the mother of the young man carrying it. He will also tell you who took the picture and where they were standing! Happy New Year, Alan!

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  2. Could the boat be the Cardiff Castle, River Dart Steamboat Company or Cardiff and another name? The wood top rail isn't clear in a photo of the Cardiff Castle.

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  3. The young man has such an intriguing look on his face as if he's
    a bit annoyed and at the same time, amused by having his photo taken.
    I have the feeling a girlfriend or wife caught the moment. Maybe because I've seen that look before.
    Than you for pulling him out of the drawer for our viewing pleasure.

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  4. Yes, the young lad does not look too pleased to be "snapped". But who might be the girl by his side? You could write a short story around this photograph - and that is an idea for a blog!

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  5. I look at the picture you picked as the theme and wonder if the man was allowed to eat at the place he was standing in front of or if he was only allowed to photograph those coming and going in or by the place.

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  6. The young man is a rather good-looking fellow, and if I were younger and he was as he is in the here & now, his expression would make me want to flirt!

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  7. Once again, Alan, you've found a match in a subtle detail. Like the itinerant photographer in the theme photo, the young man looks straight into the lens and now ages later directly into our eyes too.

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  8. Happy New Year Alan.Yes! Maybe Photographers Are Shy!Also ,maybe, they are trying to observe how people look at them ?

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  9. So no photographs of the camera-toting Fowler Beanland to be found?

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  10. He was looking forward, to the destination perhaps, until that moment when someone called his name and he had to look back. Symbolic stuff Alan; New Year, no looking back!

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  11. A most interesting photo, and I especially love how our comments have fleshed it out. Glad to see an enigma that piques our curiosity.

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