The beauty of the desert will be etched in my memory forever

Posted on August 2, 2009 by joe

The story below was constructed using found photographs and postcards from today’s trip to the Alameda Antiques Fair. Photos #3-4 are from the Union Oil Company’s Natural Color Photographic Scenes of the West (1939), and the Death Valley Viewmaster reel is pretty good!

: I was retiring from my job. We had a nice party.

: I hadn’t been feeling well, and thought a trip to the desert might help.

: The joshua trees were beautiful.

: The landscape was stunning.

: My pictures didn’t turn out, but I had a great time.

: The beauty of the desert will be etched in my memory forever.

Three mysteries: Prints found at a flea market

Posted on April 13, 2009 by joe

Powell Street Plaza, San Francisco, 8-30-1978

Inscription on the back reads: 8.30.78, Powell St. Plaza, S.F. (San Francisco)

From left to right we have a dancing (?) guy with his face cropped off, a row of dudes with their heads cropped off, the blonde girl in the flares, the old guy staring into the camera thinking “what are you taking a picture of?”, and the guy entering the scene on the right who is in sharp focus. The energy and dynamics of this image thrill me. Put this one in the dictionary under “snapshot aesthetic.”

A dog named Flash?

If the sunlight wasn’t shining on the chair at bottom right, the blown out by sunlight dog yapping at bottom center might be more of a mystery. I guess the camera didn’t have highlight tone priority. The mother / daughter (?) energy is jovial, I love the colorful shirt — but Dad, try to give Lassie a treat now and then so he won’t bark so much, OK?