Sepia Saturday 344 : October 2016 - From Here To There

Our Sepia Saturday theme for October is "From Here To There" and as the title suggests it is all about movement. Whatever the era, whatever the technology: so much of our lives is taken up with getting from here to there - whether it be the daily commute to work or uprooting ourselves and our families and moving half way around the world. And we go from here to there by foot, by car, by railway engine, by aeroplane and - like the ladies in our theme image - by bicycle. The theme opens up an Aladdin's cave of photographic subjects: there can be few of us who doesn't have a car or ferry, train or bike or a set of walking feet somewhere in their collection.

So look out those old photographs and post them throughout October in this Sepia Saturday travel and transport month. Add a link to your various contributions to the list below. Keep your feedback coming - we need to make a decision about the longer term future of Sepia Saturday soon, so your ideas and views are important.  I will give you advanced notice of the November call in a week or so. In the meantime, I need to go from here (Yorkshire) to there (Sunny Spain). See you all soon.

Sepia Saturday 343 : September 2016

So here we go with the second of our experimental monthly Sepia Saturday prompts - and this month it is work and play. Our theme image features a young mill girl turning her back on the loom she is supposed to be minding and gazing out of the mill window and, perhaps, thinking of the fields or the river where she should be playing. Our August brace of themes - love and marriage - were said by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn to "go together like a horse and carriage", but you might challenge the assertion that work and play have such a symbiotic relationship. This is a Sepia Saturday theme, however,  rather than a philosophical discourse and therefore all you need to do is to provide us with an old image and a few words that is some convoluted way relates to either work or play or any combination of the two.

In line with our new experimental rules you can post as many times as you like throughout the month - simply link the posts to the list below and number them 1/2/3 or whatever. Keep your feedback coming in terms of how you like this new approach: all I can say is that it makes things a lot easier for me. If we decide to continue the monthly approach I will post an advanced call for October in a couple of weeks time. In the meantime, if you have any theme suggestions (it doesn't have to be a couplet "x and y" but that might be a useful approach until we get used to things) then let me know.

Here is a quick preview of our call for October (thank you Sue for the suggestion)

Sepia Saturday 342 : August 2016 - Love And Marriage

As Cyril and Madge walk down the stone steps of their wedding venue they launch themselves into a new phase of their lives. In the same way, we here at Sepia Saturday launch ourselves into a new phase of our lives with our experimental Sepia Saturday monthly call. The theme for August 2016 is "Love And Marriage" and what we would like you to do is to share your old photographs which fit in one convoluted way or another with that theme. You can post once, or twice or as many times as you want. You can post on Thursday morning, Tuesday afternoon or even on a Saturday. You can do more or less whatever you want - after all this is Sepia Saturday. All we ask is that - if you are posting more than one post in the month - you make this clear in your Linky Link heading.

We will try this approach for a couple of months and see how it goes. As always we value you feedback. Here is a sneak preview of our September prompt.

You will need to excuse any bumps and inconsistencies in the normal smooth running of the Sepia Saturday machine whilst we try this new format out. But let us hope the new direction we are launching ourselves in is just as happy and successful as the marriage of Madge and Cyril.

Sepia Saturday 341 : 30 July 2016

We are down in the gloomy deeps this week on Sepia Saturday. Cold water is dripping from above and it is dark and cold. Yes, its the British summer in Blackpool! No, stop being silly, it's not Blackpool, it is the Speedwell Caverns in Castleton, Derbyshire and there is a fragile looking boat full of happy holiday makers in the cave. There are all sorts of places you can go with this prompt - caves, boats, parties, dark, damp - you can even go to Speedwell Caverns in Castleton if you want. Wherever you go, go there on or around Saturday 30th July 2016 and once you've posted your post, add a link to the list below.

Marilyn and I have been having a chat and we thought we might try an experiment for August. Things are getting a little quiet in Sepia land and - for us in the north - it is the middle of summer, so we thought we might try a single prompt covering ALL of August. This doesn't mean that you can only post one sepia contribution during the month - the themes will be wide enough for you to post as many as you want over the four week period. 

I will tell you more about it when I post the call early next week, but here is a preview of the August Sepia Saturday call.

Such exciting developments are for the future. For the moment, get back there in your dark dripping rowing boat and give us your contributions for Sepia Saturday 341.

PLEASE IGNORE : This is A Test : Call For Sepia Saturday 340 Is Below

Sepia Saturday 340 : 23 July 2016

I don't know about you but I am feeling tired. It's time to take to my bed. Time to soak up that 1930s style. Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week is an old picture postcard. The description on the Sepia Saturday Flickr Group page reads as follows:

"A picture postcard dating probably from the 1930s of a bedroom at the Hotel Imperial in Ostend, Belgium. Perhaps the date can be pinned down by an example of the then rates: "Pension a parter de fr 110". The decor does seem to be the kind of style popular in the 1930s. The flowered wallpaper is particularly notable".

Just decide which theme you want to follow - or follow none at all - and post your posts on or around Saturday 23 July 2016. Here is a reminder of the next couple of theme images:

You may have noticed that the number of participants in Sepia Saturday has fallen recently. Marilyn and I will put our heads together and post something on the blog in terms of the future. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let us know.

Sepia Saturday 339 ; 16th July 2016

Pictures, palaces, and bingo numbers are amongst your possible themes this week for Sepia Saturday 339 (post your posts on or around Saturday 16th July 2016). The theme photograph, I must confess, is one of my own (how sad to be old enough to have taken a Sepia Saturday theme image!). The description on the Sepia Saturday Flickr Group page is as follows:

The Picture Palace was a small local cinema situated in Dudley Hill - between Bradford and Leeds. It was built by Walter Goodall - who already owned cinemas in nearby Cleckheaton and Heckmondwyke - in 1912. Even though it was a local cinema rather than a town centre establishment, it still had seating for up to 600 people. The first film to be shown at the cinema was an American silent film called "How's Your Father". It continued to operate as a cinema until 1967 when it eventually closed down - the last film to be shown was "Thunderbirds Are Go". Later it became a bingo hall - when my photograph was taken - and later still a carpet and furniture showroom (which it remains to this day).

Before you decide what to go with, take a look at what awaits you in the weeks ahead.

All that remains is for me to wish you the best of luck with your Sepia Saturday submissions. May all your pictures be fit to hang in a Sepia Palace.