Sepia Saturday 372 : 17 June 2017

A little lad - a cute little chap - watering a flower he has just planted in a garden. A smile of expectation on his face, a crop of questions in his mind. Will the plant flourish or will it fail? Will the gentle rains of spring and autumn bring it many fecund summers, or will the cold snows of winter stunt its ambitions? As many questions as there are stones in that dry stone wall, as many answers as there are swans in that sky. That is all you are going to get from me in terms of a prompt for Sepia Saturday 372 (post you posts on or around Saturday 17th June). You will need to plant your own post, water it with the cool richness of your imagination, and put it on display by linking it to the list below. 

And here is what lies ahead in the more immediate future.

Sepia Saturday 371 : 10th June 2017

Our theme image this week shows a man with a wooden box. Whoever the man is, he doesn't seem happy with life and maybe that could be a potential theme you would like to explore. There again ,there are boxes, men with bowler hats, and .... boxes. The photograph comes from the Flickr Commons collection of the National Library of Ireland, but for whatever reason it has now been withdrawn from Flickr - perhaps it was making everyone a little too miserable. You don't need to be miserable, of course, all you need to do is post a post on or around Saturday 10th June 2017 and link to the list below. Things get a little happier over the next couple of weeks - here is a preview of the themes.

And just in case you think that Marilyn and I have been sitting back with our feet up doing nothing but constructing wooden boxes, here is proof that we have been busy planning the next three months of Sepia Saturday fun. The is just an overview, of course, but hopefully it is enough to whet your appetite.

Sepia Saturday 370 : Saturday 3 June 2017

MIDLANDS OAK : CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY (Via FLICKR)

This may look like just another old tree, but it isn't. According to the comments on the Flickr page of Cornell University digital collection - of which this Victorian albumen print forms a part - this is a photograph of the oak tree near Leamington which marks the geographical centre of England. As a Sepia Saturday prompt it might lead you in the direction of trees, or the centre of things, or fences, or things which turn out to be more than they seem to be. As always, the choice is yours. All you need to do is to post your post on or around Saturday 3rd June and then add a link to the list below.

And whilst you are wondering which direction to go in, you might want to pause and look what is around the corner. Here are the next two Sepia Saturday prompts. 

Now you know what is ahead, it is time to decide which direction to go in. Good luck.

Sepia Saturday 369 : 27 May 2017

Deacon McGuire, Philadelphia Quakers - New York Public Library Digital Collection

Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week shows a man awaiting a delivery, on his guard, ready to strike out. All Sepians will recognise these emotions, they will know exactly what it is like waiting to find out what kind of ball will be delivered. This is exactly what Sepians feel like each week as they wait for the theme image to be published : ready, aware, expectant, senses stretched as taut as a violin string. And then the delivery is made and our hero strikes out and hits the ball out of the stadium - a perfect match for a perfect prompt. 

Whatever your response to this prompt might be, hit us with it on or around Saturday 27th May 2017 and add a link to your post to the list below. As you run between the bases, you might want to look ahead at what awaits you over the next couple of weeks.

Sepia Saturday 368 : 20 May 2017

Thank you Marilyn for reminding me to put the prompt up. Unfortunately I am just about to go out and I am away all day tomorrow! I will return and polish the prompt up before the weekend, but for the time being you will have to make do with the bare minimum.

Sepia Saturday 367 : 13 May 2017

Bob's Love Affair (Cinema 1915)- New York Public Library

Cinema still images are a wonderful photographic sub-genre. Designed to tempt you into the cinema, they need to set a scene and provide potential cinema-goers with a sample of the drama, the costumes and the stars they will see if only they buy a ticket. Our theme image for this week is a classic example - it is a still from the 1915 film "Bob's Love Affair". You can, of course, interpret the theme as you want - there is love, there are looks, there are hats and canes and there are costumes. Do with them as you will. The only regulation is that we would like you to do it on or around Saturday 13th May 2017 and post a link to your post on the list below.

Whilst we are loading the second reel, why not enjoy an ice cream or some popcorn and take a look at what is being featured next week and the week after.

Sepia Saturday 366 : 6th May 2017

Menu, Milan and Dan Restaurant, Café & Grill, San Francisco : California Historical Society (Flickr Commons)

By the time you will be reading this I will not be here - I will be off on my holidays, hanging out at some smart and sophisticated restaurant with the Mediterranean waves lapping up on my crocodile skinned shoes. I may be eating caviar on toast or snacking on a stuffed olive (those who know me well will know what nonsense this is - I will be having egg and chips and a pint of beer). The last thing I will be thinking about is what to submit for my Sepia Saturday post, but you lot have no excuse. Take a look at the theme image and post a post and link it to the list below, on or about Saturday 6th May 2017. And then take a look at what is on the menu for later on.