Sepia Saturday 505 : 1 February 2020

Another week, another month, another archive, another place .... another Sepia Saturday prompt image. All our February Sepia Saturday prompt images come from the Flickr Commons collection of the archives of Liberas, the Belgian archive dedicated to preserving and managing the heritage of liberal organisations. For Sepia Saturday 505 (post your posts on or around Saturday 1st February 2020), think boats, think canals .... think any old photograph you want which may be connected in some way or another with our theme image. Once you have done so add a link to your post to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for the lock-gates of your mind to swing open, you might want to see what is in store over the next couple of weeks.

Sepia Saturday 504 : Saturday 25 January 2020

The other day I took my grandson to the swings in the local park, and I suddenly remembered being taken to similar swings by my own father almost seventy years earlier. Swings, seesaws and roundabouts are the architecture of our childhood, and have been for a hundred years or more. Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week celebrates such architecture and provides us all with an opportunity to share old photographs of childhood. Simply post your post on or around Saturday 25 January 2020 and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for the swings to become free, why not take a look at what is further around the Sepia Saturday roundabout.

Sepia Saturday 503 : Saturday 18 January 2020

Few things can beat getting out into the fresh air and feeding the swans. It doesn't matter that, here in the northern hemisphere, it is in the middle of winter and the river is as likely to be frozen over as populated by a merry band of bobbing ducks and swans. It is the theme that we are celebrating, not the reality. That theme can be rivers, ducks, swans, bridges, ladies in pudding hats ... or the eternal connection between humans and animals. The theme photograph - like all the January theme photos - comes from my own collection of unknown and unclaimed old photographs. If there is a back story to it, it is the one you invent for yourselves. 

As usual, simply post an old photograph, which may (or may not) match the theme image, on or around Saturday 18th January 2020 and add a link to the list below. And if you have any time left, you might want to feed the swans .... or, alternatively, give a thought or two to the next couple of Sepia Saturday challenges.

Sepia Saturday 502 : 11 January 2020

Get a group of people together - especially if it is a group of children - and there is an irresistible desire to take a photograph of them. That has been true ever since photography escaped the clinical confines of the Victorian studio - and it is still true in the age of the cell-phone camera. Our theme image this week - which comes from my own collection and features a group of unknown children from, I suspect, the 1920s - is typical of the genre: wide eyed children looking expectantly at the camera.  For Sepia Saturday 502 we invite you to feature your group photographs - or any old photos from your collection that connect in one way or another with the theme image. Post your post on or around Saturday 11th January 2020 and add a link to the list below. 

And here is a reminder of the next two Sepia Saturday theme images.

Sepia Saturday 501 : 4 January 2020

There is nothing like starting the New Year as you don't mean to go on! I would like to blame the late appearance of the prompt for Sepia Saturday 501 on a surfeit of food, drink and good cheer: but, alas, the cause was nothing more prosaic than a head cold. As I sit here writing this, sneezing, coughing and feeling very sorry for myself, I cannot match the smile of this charming unknown lady. As I wish you all a happy and a healthy 2020, I challenge you to match her smile with something joyful from your own collection. Just post your post on or around Saturday 4 January 2020 and add a link to the list below.

The photograph of the smiling lady comes from my own collection of anonymous old photographs that have made their way to me by fair means or foul. All the January theme photos have a similar provenance. Here is a preview of the rest in the set.