Sepia Saturday Week 34

In her Sepia Saturday contribution last week, Cheri Daniels (Journeys Past) wrote about how pleased she was that the "less than perfect" compilation of shots of her father as a young baby was not thrown away. The resulting picture let us see " the developing and fading of tears, and the work it took just to get this busy little guy to sit still!" I so agree with Cheri. We get used to seeing perfectly posed and perfectly focused vintage photographs : the ones that were saved and framed and treasured. But so often it is the technically less than perfect shots that capture reality - show life as it really was.

Sepia Saturday will be open again this week - Sepia Saturday 34 July 31st 2010 - and everyone is invited to participate. Just post an old photograph and tell us what it means. Add a link to your post on the list below and include a link back to the Sepia Saturday blog. Good shots, bad shots, sharp shots, soft shots - show them to the world with Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday : Week 33

Last week we gained a new member to our little circle - gibknitty who runs the delightful Urban Muser Blog. The link went up fairly late so those who didn't see the post - which included a photograph of her mother and her aunt - will have missed the interesting comment she makes about the importance of listening to the stories the older generations of our families can tell about the "old days". "And although sometimes our own busy lives get in the way", she writes, "I vow to keep making time not just for new memories, but to revisit the old ones before they disappear". There is a lot of truth in that short sentence and I for one look forward to reading about some of those old memories in her contributions to Sepia Saturday in weeks to come.

Sepia Saturday 33 is almost upon us. Simply incorporate an old photograph into your post and link it via the Linky List below. Don't forget to mention the Sepia Saturday blog and visit as many of the other participants as you can. Make time for some of those old memories on Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday : Week 32

Whilst we still have many new participants taking part in Sepia Saturday, the number of people taking part each week seems to have peaked, which - in many ways - is a welcome thing. It means that the project remains manageable : when you come to visit other participants you are not faced with an impossibly long list. You can take your time, read the posts at your leisure, and make comments that are meaningful rather than superficial. Feedback on comments often opens up discussion which adds a new dimension to creative blogging.

I got into one such discussion last week with Tattered and Lost whose blogs feature - amongst other things - ephemera and vernacular photography. We talked about how you embark on an adventure when you begin to bring one of these old photographs to life, and how a good writer - like T&L and, indeed, all of you - can incorporate the reader in the process of discovery.

The intimacy of small numbers is nice, but we could always do with just one or two more. So why not join in with our Sepia Saturday adventure this week and open up a new discussion. Sign up to the Linky List with a link to your post.

Sepia Saturday : Week 31

We all have images of those we have known and loved engraved into the very fabric of our minds. In these images our children are always young and carefree, our parents always proud and protective and our grandparents always wise and loving. And then we find an old photograph which, with a seismic shift, alters our whole frame of reference. Here is a parent acting the part of a young child, here is a grandmother looking young and vibrant with beauty. 

I was reminded of this last week with the delightful post by Ticklebear which featured a picture of his grandmother relaxing on the family porch. Ticklebear commented on how strange it was to see his grandmother at rest, far from the role of ever-active matriarch which she undoubtedly took on later in life. This ability to almost travel through time is yet another aspect of these old photographs of ours.

It's time-travel time again so sign up now for Sepia Saturday 31 (Saturday 10 July 2010). Everyone is welcome, just post an old photograph and say a few words about it (it doesn't have to be sepia). Sign up to the Linky List either before or after you post : the only rule is that there are no rules.

Sepia Saturday : Week 30

Sepia Saturday poster Leena said last week that she might be seen as a "peculiar bird" coming, as she does, from far away in Finland near the Russian border. Exotic, yes, peculiar, never : I reply on behalf of all other Sepia posters. If you have not looked at Leena's Blog (Joensuudailyphoto) do so : there are some wonderful pictures and delightful descriptions. But the thing you will notice most of all, is that if you go back a generation or two, people always look the same whether they are in Europe or America, Cleveland Ohio or Cleckheaton Yorkshire. Sepia really is a great leveler.

It is time to start leveling again and Sepia Saturday 30 will take place on Saturday July 3rd. If you are taking part add your name to the Linky List below : either a generic link to your Blog if you join before the post is up or a specific link to the post after the event. Exotic birds from all over the world are welcome.

Sepia Saturday Week 29

You know what it's like when you buy a new car : until you bought that particular make and model you hardly ever saw one on the road, but all of a sudden they are everywhere. I am beginning to get the same feeling about using the Internet to gather and study old photographs. At almost every turn I come across new sites and blogs that use old photographs as their central theme or as a means of stimulating comment or debate. But unlike the situation with the new Austin Metro, the knowledge that there are many others out there doing what Sepia Saturday does gives me a feeling of great joyousness rather than mild jealousy.

Tony Zimnoch and I grew up in the same northern town at about the same time. We knew the same schools, the same shops and the same dance halls. No doubt we knew some of the same people. But we never actually met until the back end of last year, having discovered each other through our mutual interest in blogging. Indeed, it is Tony you need to thank - or possibly blame - for my range of current blogging activity, because until he became a follower of my News From Nowhere blog, I had been blogging for the exclusive enjoyment (?) of three friends and a dog. By following Tony's endlessly fascinating blog, I discovered just what a creative process blogging could be - and I also discovered a world populated by friends.

In his Sepia Saturday post last week, Tony told a fascinating story of how he discovered a photograph of his mother on a Facebook site devoted to old photographs of Halifax (the town we both grew up in). It was a photograph he hadn't seen before and for me it just seemed to sum up what a magical experience photographic hunting can be. I can't retell the story any where near as well as Tony told it, so if you haven't read his post, read it now.

My holiday and the broken routine means I am a little late in putting up the Sepia Saturday call this week. For that, apologies but, better late than never, here goes :  roll up, roll up, roll up for Sepia Saturday 29. SS29 will take place on Saturday 26 June 2010. New sepias and old sepias are equally welcome. Just sign up on the Linky List and start your photographic hunting expeditions.

Sepia Saturday Week 28

I am full of apologies tonight. My first is that this call is going up so early - the sun has hardly set on Sepia Saturday 27 and here I am pestering you to take part in Sepia Saturday 28 (19 June 2010). My second apology is that I will not be able to take part in Sepia 28 myself because - as I mentioned last week - we hit the road first thing tomorrow morning and we will not be back until the 20th June. And because I have been so busy trying to remember what I need to pack, my third apology is that I have not had time to do my normal tour of Sepia posts. On my return I will visit all the blogs and catch up on the Sepia 27 and Sepia 28 posts.

But I have managed to have a quick look at quite a few of the Sepia 27 posts and I have to say what a pleasure it is to welcome new members to our little group. Reading first-time Sepia poster, Natasha, - see Today's Gift - I was struck by the way we all delight in the same mysteries, the same types of observations, and the same unanswered questions. They are all part of the joy of old photographs, and Natasha's investigation of the photograph of the woman who is probably her Great Grandfathers' sister sums up the process so very well. Our usual warm welcome to new members joining in with Sepia 28 and welcome back to all our old friends. New or old, all you need do is to link your Sepia 28 post using the Linky List below. I look forward to seeing all your posts on my return home.