Summertime is a picnic on a lazy warm afternoon with family and friends.
Click on image to see it larger.
Tomorrow: bathing beauties
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I collect vernacular photography which I think of as photographs of the ordinary by the ordinary. Snapshots are my favorite, especially showing people involved with their surroundings and not lined up and posed.
There are people who believe collecting these photos is odd and a waste of time. Why collect something taken by an amateur of people you don't know? It has no value? Why not collect something with a pedigree?
The obvious answer for me is money. I can't afford photos by the greats, but I can afford these. But more important it's the challenge of searching through junk to find a jewel. An amateur snapshot that is as beautiful as many I've seen by professionals. And since I know nothing about the photographer who am I to say they were an amateur? Perhaps the photographer was a professional or it was just a very lucky shot by an amateur. Makes no difference to me. The shot is perfect.
Others might not agree with me and that's fine. It's my little gem and I have no idea if there are more copies floating around somewhere. This may be the only one in existence and I might be the first person to react this way to it. For awhile it was someone else's trash. Not anymore, at least not for now.
This is my contribution to this weeks Sepia Saturday. To see more summertime shots click here and here. More will be added over the next several days.
Posts
Oh no, I don't see it in any way as odd, not in any way. And as for this particular shot, this looks almost like pictures taken by MY family. We had many picnics over the years. I would love to have this for my personal journal. If you think that I may have it, please let me know. I'll check back in "comments". I just enjoy your blog so much. It's right "up my alley", as they say. I love what you do.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sheila, but no, I don't part with my collection.
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful picture! Nice cars, and an interesting tableau of a picnicking family. This could easily end up in a book describing the American way of life in the previous century.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! "Photos of the ordinary by the ordinary" is a nice turn of phrase too. This kind of ephemera reveals so many kinds of other trivia that goes missing over time. Like the cars connect the fashion connect the picnic table connect to the thermos jug - which is identical to the one I have from my grandfather.
ReplyDeleteThat's really what I love about this shot, its perfection. It's quintessential American. It's all in the details.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other comments, but I have to add this scene could be reproduced in England too. It looks like many happy family picnics I had as a child, except the car was different of course. Do families still enjoy picnics like this today do you think, without the intrusion of modern technology, or would some of the group be merrily texting their friends? I’m so glad that you save these pictures for us all to share.
ReplyDelete"Odd", "waste of time", never. Photographs of the people, by the people : I can think of few better ways of spending time. Long live vernacular photography.
ReplyDeleteNo-one needs a reason to collect photos like this; many would be lost for ever without collectors like you.
ReplyDeleteCould be a picnic anywhere but the cars place it firmly in America.
That photo is a classic.
ReplyDeleteThank you for answering me..I understand totally. Have a good day.
ReplyDeleteI figured I had many kindred souls here who understand this, though probably not the compulsion. More, more, more.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sheila, you most certainly can drag the image from the screen to your desktop to use in your journal. I'm not adverse to that. I just like keeping the originals. Makes me sound like a crazy old lady surrounded by boxes and envelopes of old photos which...now that I think of it....
A waste of time? Bah! What do they know? I love your photos, and quite honestly, you're performing a valuable service. If it weren't for you and others like you, these photos could eventually be destroyed and thereby lost forever. In your own way, you are preserving history as much as the Smithsonian or any big, heavily endowed organization. Keep on doing what you're doing, my dear! We all admire you for it!
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is occasionally I find someone from the Smithsonian appears to come here to look around. It's never made sense.
ReplyDeleteNothing like a picnic. I like the old cars in the photo, helps to date the picture. I used to enjoy picnics when I was younger, must go on one soon....
ReplyDeleteI love the old photos especially the ones with cars in them. Can't seem to find many in my family as I can't remember anyone having a car. We lived in a small town and walked everywhere we went. So did the ancestors, I guess.
ReplyDeleteQMM
Yes, why don't we go on picnics anymore. Generally when I drive by parks on a weekend it's Hispanic families out enjoying themselves. Children running around laughing.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been on a really proper picnic in a very long time. As a child I remember many picnics in Aiea in Hawaii. Before eating we'd go on a walk through the Bamboo Forest and then settle down for an afternoon of food, laughter, and sleeping under the trees on an old blanket.
We're certainly missing something these days.
i totally agree with your point of view. i've got a couple of pics that i know nothing about, but they have that certain quality, it's a classic in my mind.
ReplyDelete:)~
HUGZ
Well everything I've seen on your blog is far from ordinary, and that family looks hardly ordinary ...really, I wish I had some of the cool stuff they have on their picnic, and still trying to figure out what that round large container on the groud is...did it hold something cold to drink, was it for ice cream, and their cars, (why the doors open?) they are very cool, especially the second one kind of almost like a hot rod! Very cool cars! But I know what you mean about paying more money...I can't believe how some post cards are so high priced for something we could just pick up at say Niagara Falls! ...and the ordinary and everyday little stuff in life are just so cool!
ReplyDeleteKaren, I think you're referring to the large thermos on the table bench. Most likely contained cold water and had a spout on one side.
ReplyDeleteWhat you can't see in the photo is that the paper cups and paper tablecloth are all the same pattern so some real thought went in to this little picnic.
It really is one of my favorite photographs.