Friday, August 29, 2014

Sepia Saturday: Alone



In the theme photo my eye is drawn to the man walking alone. I found several photos in my collection on the same theme.

Alone on a mountain trail at Hotham Heights, Victoria
Alone on a beach at Airley Beach, Queensland
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.

Central Sydney Railway Station. Postcard posted 1907.
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.

c1981
 I suggest you check the Sepia Saturday website to see what other contributors have posted.

13 comments:

  1. 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

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  2. Perhaps the same solitary man has run away from Coogee and caught the train up to Central Station :-)

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  3. I 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.

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  4. Solitude - 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.

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  5. A great twist on the theme. Well done.

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  6. I'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.

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  7. I 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!

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  8. I love seeing "then and now" photos like the Sydney railway station ones. Loved the alone perspective.

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  9. Alone 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.

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  10. What a good idea to go for the ‘alone’ theme; you found some great images to share.

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  11. Anyway, in these cases we know the photographer is right there.

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  12. Yes, alone is not lonely, especially when in a beautiful setting!

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  13. What 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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I love to read your comments. Thankyou for your interest.

Lorraine

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