Sepia Saturday 256 : 29 November 2014

As a general rule, if you take a daft photograph and then let it soak up eighty years of history it will become even dafter. This is certainly true of this 1930 photograph of the Swan Maiden's Carriage at the Grace Brothers Ball in Sydney, Australia. Grace Brothers were - believe it or not - a famous Department Store, and the strange scene depicted in this photograph (which comes to us by way of the Flickr stream of the Powerhouse Museum) is as strange as anything you might have seen in an episode of "Are You Being Served?". Possible themes for Sepia Saturday 256 include festivals, floats, feathers and fair maidens. Whatever you decide to go with, just post your post on or around Saturday 29th November and add a link to the list below.

But before you swan off and look for a matching old photograph, take a quick gander at what is to come in the next couple of weeks.

257 : Lassoo, Dad and Son, porch, dog, cowboy

258 : Scenes cropped from the background of other photographs, 

sailors, and people walking away.

That is all for the future. For the moment, all you need to do is to climb aboard the Swan Maiden's float and glide down to your rendezvous with Sepia Saturday 256.

Sepia Saturday 255 : 22 November 2014

The title of this old photograph - which comes from the Flickr Commons stream of the National Archives of Estonia - is "Eveline Maydell making a silhouette, with her models. Indianapolis 1931" Eveline Adelheid von Maydell (1890 - 1962) was a German-born silhouette artist who lived in the USA from 1922 onwards. She was described as being ambidextrous : a Milwaukee newspaper article from 1942 said "she sketches and designs with her left hand and with her right snips with minute scissors the silhouettes..." Sepians also need to be ambidextrous - composing words with their left hand whilst assessing old images with their right - and we invite you to contribute all these skills to your contributions for Sepia Saturday 255. Just post your post on or around Saturday 22 November and then (unlike some idiot who forgot last week) link the post to the Sepia Saturday Linky List below. What could be easier than that. Before you start snipping away, take a look at what is to come in the weeks ahead.

256 : Festivals, floats, feathers and fair maidens

257 : Lassoo, Dad and Son, porch, dog, cowboy

But the nightmares of two-legged swans and children garroting their fathers is for the future. For the moment try to concentrate on Sepia Saturday 255 - and be careful not to cut yourself with those scissors.

Sepia Saturday 254 15 November 2014

Sometimes when you are battling against the flow of events you need a helping hand; someone to come along and give you a lift. Love is getting your feet wet so that others can remain dry. When a barrier needs to be overcome, two legs are better than four. Whatever lesson you care to read into this weeks Sepia Saturday theme image, all you have to do is to post a post on it and publish it on or around Saturday 15th November 2014. The image comes from the Flickr stream (or perhaps in this case, the Flickr River) of the Provincial Archives of Alberta and is simply called "Couple Crossing A River". Once you have posted your post, link it to the list below and then go along with the Sepia flow.

But before you get carried away, take a look at the next two Sepia Saturday subjects.

255 : Children, train sets, crafts, silhouettist,dogs, family groups

256 : Festivals, floats, feathers, fair maidens

That is all for the future. Now it is time to jump in to Sepia Saturday 254 and get you feet wet. You won't be alone - a fellow Sepian will be along to give you a helping hand.

Sepia Saturday 253 : 8 November 2014

I have to confess, I have never been a fisherman. The thought of sitting next to some damp river bank waiting for some obliging fish to bite leaves me cold. The thought of having to push a sharp hook through some non-obliging worm leaves me frozen. I am much happier with an old photograph of some fishermen, and that is just what we have for Sepia Saturday this week. It is a photograph that dates back to 1916 and which has been shared via Flickr Commons by Alberta Archives. All you need to do is to cast your digital hook into your collection of old images and come up with something that may or may not match our theme image. You might want to go with miners or with anglers, with fishy tales or with three men : whatever you go with just post your post on or around Saturday 8th November 2014 and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for inspiration to bite, you might want to look at the next couple of Sepia Saturday themes.

254 : Couples, clinches, crossings, hitching a ride

255 : Children, train sets, crafts, silhouettist,dogs, family groups

So there we go. Sit back, clear your mind of all worries and cares. Cast your line and see what you can catch.