In the theme photo my eye is drawn to the man walking alone. I found several photos in my collection on the same theme.
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| Alone on a mountain trail at Hotham Heights, Victoria |
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| Alone on a beach at Airley Beach, Queensland |
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| Margaret Alford alone in a garden. |
It is too easy to assume that the people alone are lonely, but I don't think so. The man on the mountain is a friend and we were part of a larger group of field naturalists. The lady in the garden is my husband's great-grandmother, a much loved member of a large family. And the girl on the beach was sitting near a group of friends.
So, I looked to the theme photo for another angle. Aha. A train. I have in my possession some postcards from the early 1900s and one of them is of Central Sydney Railway Station and, joy oh joy, there is a solitary man walking on the road. The image appears to have been altered slightly for some reason.
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| Central Sydney Railway Station. Postcard posted 1907. |
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Central Sydney Railway Station now.
[Source: Fabian on skyscrapercity.com] |
And finally, my own children only needed a couple of cardboard boxes and some soft toys to create an imaginary train. They weren't alone.
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| c1981 |
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I like your perspective of this week's theme. Sometimes to be alone is sheer luxury. and I think every child at some time or other has made a pretend train with whatever comes to hand
ReplyDeletePerhaps the same solitary man has run away from Coogee and caught the train up to Central Station :-)
ReplyDeleteI see two, three, or more people walking together - chatting happily amongst themselves as they move along. But for me, walking alone - quietly enjoying the scenery or thinking about things as I go has always appealed to me. I've tried walking with a partner or others, but it's simply not as satisfying. I like being with others on other occasions, but I enjoy my own company too & never mind being alone. If I happen to get bored while walking (which rarely happens) I can always come up with something to do. One fall I started counting all the acorns that had fallen on the street & thus would never grow up to be oak trees. The number headed up over a thousand & I finally lost track. A silly thing, but kind of fun.
ReplyDeleteSolitude - being alone without being lonely. Each of your loners has his/her head bent forwards as we often do when deep in thought, and unaware of the camera.
ReplyDeleteA great twist on the theme. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure which part of the postcard appears altered, but it was common to add figures of people and vehicles to postcards, and remove unwanted distracting elements.
ReplyDeleteI sure enjoyed your photos, and captions, and stories, and I also agree from my own life, there are lots of times I really enjoy my alone time!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing "then and now" photos like the Sydney railway station ones. Loved the alone perspective.
ReplyDeleteAlone time is important for all of us I think, to reflect and be ourselves - a great theme and perfect photos. Your kids in their train reminded me of my kids in boxes and brought a smile.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea to go for the ‘alone’ theme; you found some great images to share.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, in these cases we know the photographer is right there.
ReplyDeleteYes, alone is not lonely, especially when in a beautiful setting!
ReplyDeleteWhat are those interesting trees in Hotham Heights? And what is that leaning tree branch cutting across the garden? I like your theme of people alone. Clever twist!
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