Thursday, March 26, 2020

Photography Time Machine

I've always liked black and white photography. I actually prefer it for many subjects and specific situations. A recent conversation and some comments made me start to think more about it. I know the reasons I prefer black and white in many instances. It has to do with light and shadows, details, and feelings or emotions that can be evoked. A friend used the word "timeless." That has a lot to do with it.
So, in the abundance of spare time I seem to have lately, I decided to take a closer look at my photo files and see how many photos I could come up with that have an element of timelessness to them. Specifically, pictures that have some measure of ambiguity or vagueness in regards to the time period. Some were originally taken in black and white and others have been converted because they just seem to work better that way for me. All were taken by me within the past five years but I have tagged each one with a year that, in my opinion, they could have been taken. It was a fun activity.  Feel free to agree or disagree. Or just go ahead and add your own year if you'd like. These are all definitely up for interpretation.

1967 - Summer of Love

1959 (Bisbee, AZ)

1964 (With a nod to Audrey)

1969 (Short hair on guys, long on chicks)

1975 (Lots of L and El motels then)

1970 (There was only one soda fountain left in my town by then)

1955 (We had an ashtray stand just like for many years)

1963 (The year Alcatraz closed)

I have a lot more. Maybe I will do this again later. But I will close this edition with a color photo.



It still has a classic retro look to it with the saturation, slight graininess and blur around the edges so I'll say 1968 on this one...the year after the Summer of Love and the hippies were starting to move on. This one has to be color because if you are old enough to remember that time and place, you remember the colors. And if you're too young to remember, you can still dream about it. If you do, your dreams will be in color. 

Roger O'Dea     3/26/2020