I was back on the tube yesterday morning, heading down to Greenwich to pick up the rest of those slides. I had to stop in Canary Wharf, where I changed trains, to take a photo in this highly reflective sculpture on the main plaza outside the tube station. It's a pretty cool effect, isn't it? You can see what a beautiful day it was.
I made my way to The Junk Shop and counted up the remaining slides. There were about 240 of them. They were originally priced at 25p apiece, but I took them to the proprietor and made a deal to buy all of them for £40, which comes to about 16p per slide. I'm sure he got them from an estate sale for practically nothing, but hey, the guy's got to make some money.
Here's what the haul looks like. (The viewer was already mine.) I looked through them all yesterday and there are some nice shots. From what I can tell, the date range is 1968 through 1985 or so. I'll make a post eventually to show you the best ones.
It may seem weird to buy a complete stranger's old photos. But to me, a good photo is an irreplaceable treasure, a bit of aesthetic time traveling. If I can save and share a handful of such images, that seems worthwhile -- and a way to respect the creativity of the original photographer by helping their forgotten work to live on.
I was also happy to reunite the handful of slides I bought Friday with the rest of them. It seemed a shame to break them up. After all, part of their story is in the context of all the other images.
I spent yesterday afternoon catching up on blogs and reading. Last night Dave and I started a new TV show, "Only Murders in the Building," with Steve Martin and Martin Short. Sally told me about it and it seems promising -- about three obsessed listeners of true-crime podcasts who find themselves doing some amateur sleuthing of their own. Being a fan of true-crime podcasts myself, I'm intrigued!
I've made a few photographic posts of late, but the big difference between us is that you are a true photographer and aesthete whereas I mainly just like to capture and document things, often badly.
ReplyDeleteI cannot understand why you are not reflected in the steel sphere. The fellow dead centre - where I would have expected you to be - appears to have a full head of hair. Were you wearing a toupee in order to confuse observant visitors? Looking forward to seeing the best of those slides.
ReplyDeleteI’ll be interested to read what you think of “Only Murders in the Building.” The reflective photo is wonderful, captured at a perfect time. I love the person on the bench planter. I like your idea of saving slides and old photos and look forward to seeing what you’ve found.
ReplyDeleteHow are you not reflected in the photo?
ReplyDeleteThe slides were a good find. I am sure you will diligently research some of them.
Of course that's me in the center of the reflection! I'm wearing a hat. LOL
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a collector seized on the box of slides I offloaded years ago to the thriftie. It would be nice to think so.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the idea of looking through old photos and seeing what other people saw.
ReplyDeleteI am also looking forward to seeing some of those slides.
ReplyDeleteI have a box of slides in my closet I wish I could give you. I can't bear to look at them because they represent a time of such sadness in my life.
ReplyDeleteCool reflective shot. Can't wait to see what the slides say to you!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you answered the questions about where you are in that slide. I had the same question.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing what you find on those old slides.
No Way - Trippin On The Slides There Brother Man - That Is An Oddly Cool Hobby - Good On Ya
ReplyDeleteCheers
P.S. Olga Girl Needs A Just Because Uncle T Biscuit Under Her Pink Blanket
It looks like a beautiful day to go to Greenwich. Is that an Amish Kapoor sculpture that is reflecting the beautiful day?
ReplyDeleteI think it's wonderful that you have rescued the slides and I can't wait to see what you have discovered. You've reminded me of that artist (Robert Townsend) who used some old slides to create a whole series of paintings around a woman he never met. I posted about it here: https://phxdp.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-muse.html
I scanned all my slides last year but I kept the slides. Now I know what will happen to them. Some stranger will buy them and try to put together the story of my life.
ReplyDeleteI like the reflective photo and I'm glad you solved the mystery! Now that I know it's a hat, it's obvious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the Spread Eagle. I should have known it would likely be a pub name.
The reflective photo reminds me of The Bean in Chicao which is a popular spot for photos too.
ReplyDeleteThe reflective art is very cool. In 2020 we had plans to go to Chicago and see the Bean, but covid took care of that.
ReplyDeleteGood thing the world has you out there rescuing old memories. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteLoved Only Murders - saw the first season while grandkid sitting for New Jersey daughter. No Hulu here. We're going down there at the end of the week so I hope the whole 2nd season is out so I can binge.
Grandkids? What grandkids?
Yes! Only Murders in the Building, very good. We're watching season 2 now.
ReplyDeleteI should have sent you all my deceased parents' slides. Years of slides of their vacations of which we kids never went on except one year to Mexico. They would send us to camp and go on vacation. My sister had them up until she moved two years ago. She didn't want them, neither did our brother or me so in the trash they went.
I spent about 10 years of my life digitizing three different family collections of slides. I would scan them anytime I sat down at the computer to blog or read blogs. Now that I have them all digitized, I have wondered what to do with them. For now, they are all in boxes in my basement and because I probably will never be able to part with them, some future inheritor will probably dispose of them. I hope they find a good home and someone like you will marvel and ponder them.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think of The Junk Shop? It is a funny place but I usually find something in there. Is that where the slides wre from? I look forward to seeing some of them. I downloaded an app which I actually paid for to take photos of my Mum's slides as it is quicker and eeasier than my method but have not done so. Another project waiting to get done!
ReplyDeleteI don't have Hulu so I can't see that show. Yet. When I cut the cable, that's on my agenda.
ReplyDeleteI love that you rescue the slides. I should send you a bunch of mine! There are those you look at and go -- nope!
Tasker: "Bad" is in the eye of the beholder!
ReplyDeleteYP: LOL -- I responded already above but yes, that is me in the center of the sphere. :)
Mitchell: I agree, the woman on the bench makes the composition more interesting!
Andrew: I'm there! I'm right in the middle!
Boud: There is a market (clearly!) for old slides, so I wouldn't be surprised.
Bob: Exactly! It's such a wonderful little window into another time and another person's sense of what might be interesting.
Colette: They will be forthcoming!
Ms Moon: I would happily take them, assuming you're really comfortable with having them out there in the world. Sometimes a picture stripped of its associations is actually more easily enjoyed.
Barbara: I will share them ASAP, after I get them organized, cleaned and scanned.
Robin: Ha! It's funny because it never occurred to me that people wouldn't realize that's me in the middle. If I'd thought about it I would have tried harder to conceal myself. LOL
Padre: She had a surfeit of treats yesterday, don't worry! I will tell her one was from you. :)
Sharon: It's actually by a sculptor named Richard Hudson.
https://www.richardhudsonsculptor.com/work/tear-canary-wharf-london
I remember your post about those "muse" artworks!
Red: Good for you for keeping them. Some people toss them after scanning, but the slides are always a better quality image than the scans.
Kelly: I never knew my hat would be so confusing for people. LOL
Ellen D: Yes! It is very "bean-like"! The surface is very similar.
Allison: I saw the bean many years ago. I'm not sure I even have pictures of it, weirdly. (It was before I had a digital camera.)
Marty: As long as you're in the same room, it counts as a visit! LOL
Ellen: I remember you telling me that story about the slides. I would have taken them, but I also don't fault you for throwing them away. It's hard to hold onto something that you don't feel any connection to, or maybe even some resentment about. My great aunt and uncle used to travel widely and when they died, my mom's cousin threw all their pictures out. He hated the fact that they traveled without him.
Ed: As I told Red, it's good to keep the originals because a slide's image quality is so much better than a scan.
Sarah: Yes, I got them at The Junk Shop! A very fun place. I got a great old bottle there too. I didn't know there was an app for scanning slides! I have to check that out!
I have a box of slides of my wedding which Mum gave me along with a wedding album. We never had a viewer so I could only see them by holding each one up to a light, so I've never looked at them again. I have looked at the album a few times, but not for decades now. I'll have to decide which child to leave it to.
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