Sepia Saturday 214 : 8 February 2014

Welcome one and all to Sepia Saturday 214. Before I get to the main theme, let me start with a catchy little overture. Regular Sepians can ignore this as they will have heard it all before.

Sepia Saturday is an anarchic place with no rules but one or two customs and conventions. We are a group of bloggers who enjoy old photographs. We don't define what old is, and over the years we have shared photos from the mid-nineteenth century and photos from the mid nineteen-nineties : and all points in-between. We normally like to add a few words of explanation or description but the precise balance between images and words is entirely up to individual bloggers. Each week we have a theme, but the theme is open to any amount of interpretation, or it can be totally ignored and replaced with any old photo you may want to share. Once you have posted your post on your blog you add a link to the weekly Linky List and that will encourage other Sepians to visit your blog and comment on your post. We would encourage you to also visit the blogs of other Sepians and comment on their posts but we realise that it is not always possible to get around to everyone.

That is the end of the overture (which hopefully new Sepians found useful) so we can now move onto the main movement. And our theme image this week features a concentrating pianist, and an enthusiastic observer. The photograph comes from the Library of Congress collection on Flickr Commons and shows Julia Culp and C Von Dos. But you don't have to go with the obvious : as with most old pictures there are a multitude of potential themes there (I rather like the picture within a picture possibility). All you need to do is to decide which old photograph(s) you are going to feature and then post your post on or around Saturday 8th February 2014. Then add a link to the list below and let the sepia music begin.

But before the tune gets underway, spare a moment to get a quick preview of the next couple of Sepia Saturday themes:

Sepia Saturday 215 : A busy and crowded street scene in Glasgow

Sepia Saturday 216 : Three men in suits and hats

But back to the present performance. Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our performers for this evening, playing the Sepia Saturday theme it is Julia Culp and C Von Dos.

Sepia Saturday 213 : 1 February 2014

Suitcases mean holidays. Holidays mean photographs. Ergo, suitcases mean a good crop of sepia goodies. Out theme image for Sepia Saturday 213 - post your posts on or around Saturday 1st February 2014 - features an open suitcase. You can either go with the suitcase or you can ferret around inside it and find all sorts of possibilities. The actual image comes from an old advert for the Pacific Trunk Company which features in the Flickr Commons stream of the California Historical Society. For those new to Sepia Saturday what we are looking for is an old image (it doesn't have to be sepia) and a few words of description or explanation. Post your post and link back to the Sepia Saturday Blog and after it has been published try and visit as many other sepia participants as you can.

Before you pack your case, take a look at the next couple of Sepia Saturday themes :

214 :  A piano and a picture within a picture

215 : A postcard of Glasgow - a busy and crowded scene

You would have a problem fitting a piano or a tramcar into a suitcase, but if you are lucky enough to own a suitcase from the Pacific Trunk Co, it would appear that you can fit most other things in. Whatever you decide to pack, add a link to your post to the Linky List below.

Sepia Saturday 212 : 25 January 2014

Sometimes, when I put these themes together in advance, I make a bit of a guess at what might be a topical issue when their time comes and they eventually come to fruition. So a month ago, when I was searching around for an image for Sepia Saturday 212 - post your posts on or around Saturday 25 January 2014 - I entered into the realms of the weather forecaster and predicted snow. My predictions - like most predictions - experienced mixed success : Sepians in North America will be sick to death of snow, Sepians in Australia will be longing for snow, and Sepians in the UK are mostly glad that, at the moment, it is confined to old photographs. The image comes from a Cabinet Card in the collection of the national Museum of Norway and features in their Flickr collection. So weather you are longing for snow, hiding from snow, sinking in snow or wearing a hat with a feather in it, it is time to get out your submissions for Sepia Saturday 212.

And whilst you are putting on that extra layer of clothing, here is the next two Sepia Saturday theme pictures to think about.

213 : Suitcases, bags, trunks and portmanteaus

214 : Pianos and players - and pictures within pictures

But all that is for the future. Get your skis on - it's time for Sepia Saturday 212

Sepia Saturday 211 : 18 January 2014

2014 is, of course, the centenary of the start of that conflict known as The Great War or the First World War. Although the age of photography captured previous major conflicts, the Great War stands out for both its devastating scale and the fact that by 1914 photography was in the hands of the people rather than the experts. So many of us have photographs of family members who were caught up in the conflict, poignant reminders of the scale of loss and sacrifice. Our theme image this week features the face of Private Morton Neill of 9 Battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment, who was reported missing, aged 19, on 30 July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He was just an ordinary soldier, commemorated now in the Faces Project of the Imperial War Museum which is available on Flickr Commons. Thus Sepia Saturday 211 provides us with a chance to remember loss in any of its manifestations. Just post your post on or around Saturday 18 January 2014 and then link your post to the list below.

Here is a quick preview of what is around the corner on Sepia Saturday:-

212 : Let it snow and get out those skis.

213 : Suitcases, bags, trunks and portmanteaus

214 : Pianos and players - and pictures within pictures

But snow, travel and music are all things for the future, things to look forward to when peace and sanity returns to the world. For Sepia Saturday 211 our theme is of a more sombre nature.

Sepia Saturday 210 : 11 January 2014

I have a feeling it was Marilyn who suggested this as a theme : whoever it was, it is a great sepia theme because it incorporates books and old photographs. Many of us will have experienced the joy of discovering a precious old photograph tucked away within the pages of a dusty old volume. Now is your opportunity to share such discoveries, or, if you prefer, share your photographic discoveries whether they were found in a bound volume of Shakespeare or in an old shoebox. You know what to do, simply post a post on or around Saturday 11 January incorporating an old photograph, link it to the list below, and then flip through the sepia pages to view other people's discoveries.

I seem to be doing quite a good job in terms of getting ahead of myself this year, so here for your edification are the next THREE Sepia Saturday theme images.

211 : A soldier from the Great War - 100 years after the event.

212 : Let it snow and get out those skis.

213 : Suitcases, bags, trunks and portmanteaus

Those are for the future. For Sepia Saturday 210, start searching through your books, your boxes and your cupboards for some photographic discoveries.

Sepia Saturday 209 : 4 January 2014

All that Christmas and New Year stuff is behind us and we drive, full speed ahead, into 2014. And our vehicle of choice is a cross between a stretch limo and a country bus. There are plenty of potential prompts to be found in this image which comes from the collection of the Royal Australian Historical Society on Flickr Commons : cars, buses, dams, men in white coats. As usual, all you have to do is to post a post based around an old image on or around Saturday 4 January 2014 and then link that post to the Linky List below. Try and visit as many of the other people posting as possible and thus keep the Sepia Bus moving.

Here is a look ahead at the theme images for the rest of January so that you have plenty of time to plan ahead.

210 : Old photographs hidden away in a book.

211 : A soldier from the Great War - 100 years after the event.

212 : Let it snow and get out those skis.

You might like to think about those future calls whilst you wait for the bus. But don't wait too long, there it is, coming around the corner.

Sepia Saturday 208 : Christmas / New Year 2013

Welcome to the Christmas and New Year edition of Sepia Saturday. By tradition we relax the rules (what rules?) for posting over the holiday season and just ask you to post your post and link it to the list at any time over the next couple of weeks. For the "themers" amongst us we also give you the widest possible interpretation of the seasonal theme. In effect, what our Christmas and New Year edition of Sepia Saturday does is provide you with the opportunity of sending out a Sepia Christmas Card to all your fellow Sepians, and the time and opportunity to get around every Sepian to wish them Seasonal Greetings. Our normal weekly calls will resume with Sepia Saturday 209 on the 4th January. Here is a quick preview of the next two Sepia Calls.

209 : By now, you don't need any suggestions from me. Search the image and find your own theme.

210 : Now search your books and find those old photographs

That is it. That was 2013. I like to think it was a good Sepia Year, we had some great themes and some fine posts. And we had our 200th celebrations and our own special book. Let us hope that 2014 is as enjoyable and creative. A very Happy Christmas and a Wonderfully Sepia New Year to you all.

Alan