I visited the Fashion Museum in Bath last week and, whilst the features exhibits were all very interesting, they tended to concentrate on the clothes being worn by Kings, Queens, Dukes and the like. If I have an interest in fashion, it is as a means of dating photographs - and the photographs I am … Continue reading Clinging To A Fashionable Youth
Month: October 2018
Woman In The Round
Portrait Of An Unknown Woman : This is a late Victorian, or more likely Edwardian, studio portrait of an unknown woman. It is small - about two inches in diameter - and surrounded by a substantial cardboard mount which itself has been cut back. The sitter seems to have a mark or blemish just below … Continue reading Woman In The Round
You Can’t Say No To A Goddess
We went to the Roman Baths at Bath last week. The rain forced me to leave my camera back at the hotel, but I still had my iPhone with me. As we walked around the museum this splendid bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva asked me to take a selfie. You can't say no … Continue reading You Can’t Say No To A Goddess
Killing Three Birds With One Sea Urchin
My brother Roger sent me an email earlier today complementing me on the new Blog lay-out, and asking me to try and feature more of my old negatives and more old family photographs. I am able to kill two birds with one stone because, by chance, the next strip of negatives awaiting scanning features family … Continue reading Killing Three Birds With One Sea Urchin
Drim Makes Your Nose Bigger
It was wartime: perhaps that's an excuse. Even so, what possessed any self-respecting advertising agency to come up with a product name like "Drim"?. Perhaps they thought that it was only two letters away from "Dream"; but likewise it is only one letter away from "Grim". "Become a Drim enthusiast today", proclaims the advertiser's copy. … Continue reading Drim Makes Your Nose Bigger
Between The Blurred Edges Of Time
This is such a busy photograph: a summer day on the English coast ninety years or so ago. It looks as though it has been taken from a raised height - a pier or a tower or some such. The camera couldn't quite cope with the wide-angle of the shot, and the edges blur into … Continue reading Between The Blurred Edges Of Time
A Second Look At Harry Elk
This is Harry Elk. We know that because someone has kindly written his name under his photograph. A date would have been nice, an address would have been better, perhaps even over generous. A quick check of census records results in nobody of that name with a date of birth around the turn of the … Continue reading A Second Look At Harry Elk
The Test Of Time
There is something slightly fake about this Victorian photograph: the quality of the print is a little too good, the line between the foreground and the background is just a little too sharp. I have examined the print carefully, and as far as I can make out, it is a genuine studio photograph from the … Continue reading The Test Of Time
Five From A Slaithwaite Stall : 5. Blue Days, Black Nights
The fifth and final £1 buy from the Slaithwaite antiques shop is an intriguing Edwardian studio photograph of a lady, some cushions and a telephone. Such photographs were common in the Edwardian age, but were normally featured on the picture postcards that were popular at this time. This is a print, not a postcard: and … Continue reading Five From A Slaithwaite Stall : 5. Blue Days, Black Nights
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