Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Another Eye


Remember the utility box I blogged a few days ago -- the one with two eyes? Well, I was walking Olga yesterday and realized that the reverse side also features a big single eye. Would I have recognized it as an eye if I hadn't seen the others, though? Being alone, it has no context and seems more like an abstraction.

I'm reminded of that oft-repeated phrase from "The Handmaid's Tale": Under his eye.

Kind of creepy.

A quiet day around here yesterday. I read, I walked the dog. I framed and hung some pictures, including the ones I got for donating to preserve Prospect Cottage, the former home and garden of filmmaker Derek Jarman in Dungeness. (In addition to the pink image of the house I showed you in that post, I have a photo of the garden taken when Jarman was alive, showing his gardening overalls blowing on the clothesline.) I used one of my found Ikea frames from the Morocco pictures, as well as a glass borderless clip frame I found many years ago and tucked away in a closet.

In the clip frame were these:


Eight identical postcards from the V&A Museum featuring a photo by John Cowan taken at Buckingham Palace in 1961. It's a great picture, but it's even more hypnotic reproduced eight times over, isn't it? Anyway, now I have all these postcards. They're in mint condition despite sitting in a closet for the last five years, so if you'd like one drop me an e-mail with your name and address*. First seven people to request one will get a card! (I'm keeping one myself.)

*edited to remove my e-mail address for archival purposes

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see what you mean about the postcards being hypnotic and it slightly sad to separate them.

Moving with Mitchell said...

Those postcards would have been difficult for me to break up. You’re right about the repeated image.

Tasker Dunham said...

The more I look at it the stranger it becomes. And I've just spent several minutes examining the precise positions of all the limbs just to make sure it's not a stop motion animation.

Boud said...

Nice to share, but I agree, breaking them up seems sad. It's a strange image.

Bob said...

I'd frame them all together. The repeated image is striking, implying there's movement when there really isn't.

e said...

I'd have framed them together too...a bit mesmerizing for me.

The bike shed said...

Yes, as per other comments - frame them together perhaps. The eye is interesting - not sure I'd have 'seen' it that way too - but once you have, it can't be changed.

Ms. Moon said...

I wonder how many shots the photographer took before getting THAT one. Wow!

ellen abbott said...

I think I would just use them. Just write a quick note and send them off to family and friends. No one gets personal mail via the post anymore and on the rare occasion it happens it's a fun surprise.

Ed said...

Post cards are such great ideas and I've enjoyed every single one I ever got but I haven't sent or received one in probably three decades. I wish they would come back in style.

Edna B said...

Why would anyone go around drawing eyes on things. I guess it takes all kinds! Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

Wilma said...

I would be tempted to rearrange the post cards to prance around the edge of a rectangle.

Sharon said...

I guessed the 1960's when I first saw that photo(s). It has that look. I also would not have recognized the eye all by itself.

Anonymous said...

That is such an interesting photo. Yes, definitely hypnotic.

Linda Sue said...

Individually the cars are - striking and cool. together they are dramatic, a statement, wonderfully engaging. Keeping them together is far more interesting than individual cards don't you think?
Good eye sight, finding Olga's tag!

The Padre said...

You Are Still Rocking The AOL Email??? Vintage

Cheers
P.S. Olga Girl Is In Need Of An Uncle T Treat Under The Preferred Pink Blanket

Kelly said...

I agree with those who think it's a shame to break them up. It's a great image, but more dramatic as a group.

It's been decades since I read The Handmaid's Tale. I've forgotten a lot about it.

Catalyst said...

I think she's mocking the Beefeaters. Or perhaps she's drunk too much Beefeaters. Or both.

Steve Reed said...

They do make a statement as a group, don't they?!

Steve Reed said...

They've been framed in a closet all this time. Maybe I should have hung them up!

Steve Reed said...

Ha! It DOES look like stop-motion at first glance.

Steve Reed said...

The shadows are very dramatic, and I love the pattern of the woman's dress against the fencing.

Steve Reed said...

They were already framed all together and now I've reused the frame. I guess I could buy another one!

Steve Reed said...

They do have a certain rhythm.

Steve Reed said...

It's definitely an eye, but better in pairs, I think.

Steve Reed said...

I wonder if he staged it? Or do you think this woman was just randomly clowning around, mimicking the marching guards? I wonder if he knew her?

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, maybe I'll do that.

Steve Reed said...

It's a shame, isn't it? It was always exciting to get a postcard back in the day.

Steve Reed said...

A "Big Brother" statement, maybe?

Steve Reed said...

Hmmmm...like a border? That's an interesting idea.

Steve Reed said...

It's definitely a very '60s style.

Steve Reed said...

Funny how a single image reproduced can have that effect.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, maybe as others suggested above I'll put them back in their own frame. (No one took me up on the postcard offer so I still have them all, LOL!)

Steve Reed said...

I haven't changed my e-mail address since I got this one in 1995!

Steve Reed said...

I read it recently as a result of watching the TV show. The show is very faithful to the book, at least in the first season.

Steve Reed said...

Ha! Yes, I think it might be both. LOL