SEPIA SATURDAY 500

We've made it! Sepia Saturday is 500 weeks old. It seems only yesterday that we launched Sepia Saturday back in 2009: it was always intended as a short-term project and we couldn't have imagined that it would have a life much longer than most things in this digital age. Ten years have gone by, and five hundred themes have been puzzled over, thought about and matched by contributors from all over the world. There have been times when the number of participants was large and times when that number was small - but through it all Sepia Saturday has gone on: gathering memories and wrapping them up in some wonderful old photographs. And on it will go, helping to capture history in its most honest and ordinary sense: and even after the last participant has stopped contributing, hopefully it will remain as a resource for future generations.

To mark our 500th call you are invited to return to your favourite Sepia Saturday contribution and re-share it with the world. But this is an open call, so you can post whatever old image you want: the one lasting feature of Sepia Saturday has always been its dislike of rules. As with all our Christmas and New Year calls, this one goes on throughout the festive season: the next "ordinary" Sepia Saturday call (501) will be for Saturday 4th January 2020. I will post the call prompts for all of January soon.

If you want to include more than one contribution to this Sepia Saturday call, feel free to do so. Simply add links to the list below.

Sepia Saturday 499 : 7 December 2019

I realise we are all busy preparing for Christmas - nipping to the shops to get those last minute presents - but hopefully you will still be able to fit in a couple of pre-Christmas sepia challenges. This week our theme image celebrates that finest of Christmas traditions - shopping. All you have to do is to post a post on or around Saturday 7th December 2019 and add a link to the list below.

As usual, we will have just one theme over the Christmas and New Year period and, this year, it coincides with our 500th Sepia Saturday theme challenge. To mark the event, the theme is an open one - so you might want to look out your very favourite old photograph and share it with the rest of the Sepia community over the festive season. I will put the call for Sepia Saturday 500 up early next week. In the meantime, start shopping around for a suitable post for this week.

Sepia Saturday 498 : Saturday 30 November 2019

Our theme image this week is a study in concentration: a fine photograph from the early years of the twentieth century showing a woman worker helping to build aeroplanes during the Great War. You can choose to celebrate women, workers, concentration .... or indeed anything you want - just post an old photograph on or around Saturday 30th November 2019 and add a link to the list below.

One you have done that you can concentrate on thinking of a possible match for next week's prompt image. And whilst you do that, I will concentrate on trying to come up with a theme image for our 500th call!

Sepia Saturday 497 : 23 November 2019

A fine portrait of a beautiful woman and a pioneer of the Red Cross movement is a more than suitable prompt for Sepia Saturday 497. If nothing else, it might tempt us to look out all those fine portraits of all those heroes and heroines we might have in our photographic collections. The time to look them out, dust them off, and share them with the world is now. Just post your post on or around Saturday 23 November 2019 and add a link to the list below.

Just two more prompts to go before we get to Sepia Saturday 500. Here they are:

Sepia Saturday 496 : 16 November 2019

Our theme image for Sepia Saturday 496 features an early twentieth century image of a hop house in Lowell, Oregon. It seems as if all the local residents have come out to have their photographs taken: they are standing on the drive, on the stairs - even on the roof. It provides us with an opportunity to get out all your old photographs that in some way or another might connect with this theme image. All you have to do is to post your post on or around Saturday 16th November 2019 and add a link to the list below. Hop to it!

And here is a reminder of the next two theme images:-

Sepia Saturday 495, 9th November 2019

As we move remorselessly towards Sepia Saturday 500, our prompt image this week is a Library of Congress image featuring an international novelty orchestra from the early 1920s. Not only is this a fascinating old image, not only does it provide plenty of prompt opportunities for your Sepia Saturday contributions: it allows us to celebrate a Sepia Saturday star who has been contributing for the best part of the last 500 weeks - and who has an unrivalled knowledge of, and photographs of, historic bands and orchestras from throughout the world. Mister Mike, this one is for you! 

As always you can match the theme or share any of your old images by posting a post on your blog on or around Saturday 9th November 2019 and adding a link to the list below. And whilst you are listening to the music, you might want to plan the rest of your posts leading up to SS500. Here are the themes.

Sepia Saturday 494 : 2 November 2019

An old car (which was once a new car), a young filmstar (who sadly would not live long enough to become an old film star), a practiced pose .... there are more than enough potential prompts in this week's Sepia Saturday theme image. All you need to do is to match any of them - or, if you so choose, none of them - post an old image on or around Saturday 2nd November 2019 and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for the driver to turn up and drive the car away, take a look at what will be our theme image next week. And whilst you do that, I'll sort some more theme images out to take us up to Sepia Saturday 500.

Sepia Saturday 493 ; 26 October 2019

Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week features a horse and cart and a load of barrels. It dates from the end of the nineteenth century and was taken in Sydney, Australia. As a theme image it conjures up all sorts of photographic opportunities - but let's not put the cart before the horse. Whatever you choose to feature in your Sepia Saturday post, post the post on or around Saturday 26th October 2019 and add a link to the list below. Whilst you are waiting for the cart to be unloaded, take a look at what is around the Sepia Saturday corner:-

Sepia Saturday 492 : 19 October 2019

I have spent quite a bit of time this last eighteen months pushing a pram around: for some reason this is something you recall much more when you are pushing your grandchildren around rather than their parents. I dare say there are a good few photographs locked away inside mobile phones of me on recent pram-pushing duty, but those are far too recent for Sepia Saturday purposes. The compulsion to take out a camera every time a baby and a pram is present is, luckily for our purposes, not only universal, but also timeless. Therefore, for Sepia Saturday 492, we are asking you to dip into your archives and find a suitable image - and then post it on or around Saturday 19th October. Add a link to the list below and you can help propel the image around the world.

Whilst you are waiting for the little cherub to fall asleep, take a look at what is around the sepia corner.

Sepia Saturday 491 : Saturday 12 October 2019

Our theme image this week features mill workers in America in the early years of the twentieth century, and it is an image that has a very personal connection for me. Whether you, like me, have mill workers in your family tree or not, the fabric of our theme can easily stretch to encompass any aspect of the world of work. Or machines, or fabrics, or .... whatever your imagination wants to do with it. Just post a post featuring an old image on or around Saturday 12 October 2019 and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for your bobbins to bob or your spindles to spin, you might want to take a look at our next couple of theme images.

Sepia Saturday 490 : 5 October 2019

Two women on a boat in the middle of a lake. One of the women seems to be making a determined effort to row the boat, whilst the other one seems to be resting on her laurels - or at least resting on her oar. There are all sorts of potential themes in this early twentieth century photograph - just pick your theme and post a post on or around Saturday 5th October 2019. Then all you need to do is to add a link to the list below. Whilst you rest for a while, take a look at the next couple of Sepia Saturday themes.

Sepia Saturday 489 : 28 September 2019

For the last few weeks I have been lazing around on a swinging sun chair whilst meandering around the Mediterranean Ocean - but all good things must come to an end, so here I am, back home again, washing the mud off my galoshes and battening down the hatches against the coming wind and rain. Before we let the summer go (or, for those lucky sepia antipodeans, before we fully welcome summer in), here is a last opportunity to take a swing at a seasonal Sepia Saturday prompt. All you have to do is to choose something suitable, include it in a post, post it on or around Saturday 28 September 2019, and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you swing your life away, here is a preview of the next couple of Sepia Saturday prompts.

Sepia Saturday 488 : 21 September 2019

Read all about it. Whilst you are reading this I will be all at sea and there is a possibility that when I look out of my cabin window I might see some Turkish trophies. Wherever I happen to be, I have a feeling that I am not going to be able to avoid the news from home. You can help create the news by looking through your old photographs in search of one that might match this theme. When you find one, includes it in a post, and post your post on or around Saturday 21 September 2019. When you have done that, add a link to the list below.

Once you have posted your post and read all the news, take a look at what awaits you next week.

Sepia Saturday 487 : 14 September 2019

I have always wanted a well-behaved dog. I remember my father telling me that the basis of dog obedience is that the dog in question recognises who is master. All my dogs have quickly recognised this, which has made them as obedient as a fractious ferret. So whilst my dog chews up another of my socks I am inviting you to submit your old photos for Sepia Saturday 487. Post your posts on or around Saturday 14 September 2019 and add a link to the list below.

My dog is about to take me for a walk - whilst I am gone, you might want to look at what is around the Sepia Saturday corner.

Sepia Saturday 486 : 7 September 2019

Eager faces lined with concentration and anxious to study and learn - it reminds me of my own schooldays! Well perhaps not. Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week takes us back into the classroom to witness what happens when elements - such as old photos and new memories - come together. Whatever kind of reaction this causes in you - record it in a blog post, and post the post on or around Saturday 7th September 2019. Once you have posted, add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for the various chemicals to mix together, take a look at what is around the Sepia corner.

Sepia Saturday 485 : 31 August 2019

This is the second basket that has appeared as a Sepia Saturday prompt in less than a month! Am I becoming a bit of a basket case? More than likely. Basket case or not, you are invited to think of which of your old photographs may match - or even unmatched - this Sepia Saturday prompt and include it in a post. Post the post, on or around Saturday 31st August 2019 and include a link to it in the list below.

The theme prompts for September are finished and are as follows. And look how close we are getting to Sepia Saturday 500!

Sepia Saturday 484 : 24 August 2019

I think I need a major upgrade to my engine. My cylinders aren't firing, my carburettor is all clogged up, and my radiator needs a rest - and I keep forgetting to put the Sepia Saturday call up on time. I may be a bit of an old crock, but better late than never, here is the theme image for this week's Sepia Saturday. All you have to do is to find one of your old photos that may - or may not - be a match for this theme image, and post it to your Blog on or around Saturday 24th August 2019, and add a link to the list below.

Here is the next theme image - I will post the next batch of theme images within the next few days.

Sepia Saturday 483 : 17 August 2019

I stand before you (well, actually, I am sitting down) a trifle shy - and very apologetic. Once again I am a trifle late in putting the Sepia Saturday prompt on line and my excuses are about as insubstantial as a faded photographic image. So insubstantial that I will not bore you with them, but they involve a balcony, a spent lightbulb and the remains of a bag of cement. Bundling all such cares in a wicker basket, let us move own to this week's Sepia Saturday prompt. As always, all you have to do is to post one of your old photographs, which in some convoluted way is linked to the theme image, on or around Saturday 17th August 2019, and add a link to the list below.

And here is a quick preview of the next two prompts.