In the summer I like to sit in the shade, hear a light breeze rustling the leaves, and enjoy reading outside. Of course I usually fall asleep.
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Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
6/2/17
To SIT BENEATH A TREE and Read
In the summer I like to sit in the shade, hear a light breeze rustling the leaves, and enjoy reading outside. Of course I usually fall asleep.
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7/23/16
Sitting Quietly in a HOTEL ROOM
The person who sold this image on ebay said the woman was sitting in a hotel room. There is nothing written on the back to indicate this is true. What do you think indicates it's most likely a hotel room and not just this woman's bedroom?
I think it's a lovely room with the soft light. And if it's a hotel room is she reading a Gideon Bible? I travelled a lot as a kid with many motels coast to coast and a few old hotels. It never failed that I'd find a Gideon Bible in the drawer. Of course I checked for free postcards and stationary first because they were never a given. But the Bible in the nightstand was always there. It actually made me laugh when I was a kid because I wondered who this person Gideon was who kept hiding books in the drawers.
Click on image to see it larger.
This is image is from my book Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading and is my contribution to the theme this week at Sepia Saturday.
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6/24/16
An AFTERNOON READ with Momma
My dad used to read to me every night when he was home. The first few years of my life he was gone a lot during the Korean war. Then for many years he was traveling making training films. But when he was home bedtime meant story time. I don't remember my mom reading to me, but she probably did.
Click on image to see it larger.
I love this photo of the woman and child snug in the hammock on a summer day. Close your eyes and imagine the sounds of her voice and the birds in the trees, the feeling of a breeze lightly touching your skin, and the warmth of the child's body next to yours.
I was thrilled when I found this photo. It is featured in Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading.
This my contribution to Sepia Saturday this week.
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5/13/16
Without TYPE...
I wouldn't have had a business the past forty plus years.
For each of us our first introduction to type was probably books or newspapers. Someone read to us when we were young and we longed to be able to read ourselves. Once you learned to read you realized that type could lead you on endless journeys, though you most likely weren't actually thinking about type itself.
When I was in art college studying design we went on a field trip to a local large typesetter. I watched a man sitting at a Linotype machine setting type. That was the one and only time I ever saw someone use hot metal. A lot of the hot metal was eventually destroyed, sold off as scrap metal.
By the time I got out of college type was already starting to be set more and more digitally, but still required a knowledgeable typesetter to do the work. I spent my first year out of college working for various companies doing paste-up of typesetting. It was boring and meticulous work. I eventually got a job at a large publisher where again I was doing mostly paste-up for months before I was finally given my first book to design. From then on I was often the one telling the typesetter what to do. I would write out detailed specifications, creating the architecture for the books. I was very good at this. A good compositor could typeset a whole book just by reading my specifications, no visual layouts needed.
And then, what can I say, the home computer came along, and then Adobe postscript, and….
All the typesetters I knew are out of business. Some had invested tens of thousands of dollars to try to keep abreast of what was happening, to no avail. First it was actually the larger compositors that disappeared. They were bought up by people in India who came in and shut down the US operations. Eventually the little houses couldn't compete. You would really be stunned to find out how much typesetting is being done in India today. Good paying jobs around the world were lost; whole industries disappeared. It's the story of free trade and the modern world.
There's another side to type that before only people who worked with type appreciated. The art of creating and using a font was not something we shared with the masses. And then again, the computer changed all that. Suddenly anyone could sit down and do typesetting without any regard to some of the most common rules required for good typesetting. People were able to collect fonts and use them however they wanted. You don't have to look far these days to find appalling typesetting, but there's not much we can do about it.
So for me, this image from Sepia Saturday, means a lot. It is the very structure from which my profession began, thanks to Johannes Guttenberg.
Typesetting leads to reading, which leads to imaginations being tested, and a world larger than ourselves.
This photo is from my book Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading.
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2/25/15
CATEGORY: The Quiet Art of READING
This photo measures a tiny 2" x 1-3/8" and cost 25 cents. I found it in a bin that had probably over a thousand old snapshots. At first I tossed it as quickly as I tossed 99% of what I saw. But then something registered and I thought, "Wait, someone was reading in the shot." By then I'd already covered it with many other shots and had to meticulously sort back through the mess. Even when I found it I wasn't sure. The lighting in the store was not conducive to seeing minute details. My eyes were tired and dry and I just wasn't sure. But seriously, I figured for 25 cents it was worth it just to get it home and scan it. The reason it's so small is that it is a contact sheet of a negative, thus the reason you see the film sprockets.
Photos of people reading is a category that isn't easy to find. Sure, if you shop on ebay a lot of images will show up, but in the world of stores/flea markets, etc. the category of reading shots are very rare.
This photo is not in my book, The Quiet Art of Reading.
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12/23/14
SEASON'S GREETINGS while waiting for Santa
From Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading available at Amazon
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to find the perfect gifts for those hard to buy for friends.
Volume 6 available now!
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading
WAITING for Santa
From Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading available at Amazon
_________________
to find the perfect gifts for those hard to buy for friends.
Volume 6 available now!
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading
12/10/14
Taking the train for some MEXICALI BEER
I'm not even sure where I bought this snapshot which shows, I'm guessing, some American folk in Mexico for a little Mexicali Beer. The one sign says "Cantina Pullman Buffet" so I presume a day trip to Mexico by train was common.
Click on image to see it larger.
If we get the kind of rain in the next 24 hours that's been predicted I might not need a train to get to Mexico. I might be able to just step out my front door and float there. I'm not complaining. I'm loving the rain. I'm even loving watching my yard become its own little flood zone.
UPDATE: Here's a link to a postcard which puts this photo into perspective showing the surrounding area. Thank you Intense Guy!
http://thebarefootphotographer.blogspot.com/2010/02/from-barefoot-files.html
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to find the perfect gifts for those hard to buy for friends.
Volume 6 available now!
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading
8/25/14
Betty READING
Betty quietly reading. Is there any other way to read than quietly? If you're reading out loud, it's usually quietly.
Click on image to see it larger.
Reading, to me, is one of the great joys in life. To be transported to another place simply by opening a book. To learn something new by reading words on a page. These days so much reading is being done by using technology. Not in itself a bad thing, but too much reading with the aid of technology, for me, is unfulfilling. The technology allows too many distractions. Yes, you can be distracted when reading a book, newspaper, and magazine, but technology almost encourages distraction. If the author loses your attention for a moment in an e-book it's far too easy to simply click and check email or today's headlines.
Betty looks to have settled in for a long read. She has her tissues, her cigarettes, and several items on her lap to peruse. Let's hope the only distraction was her father taking her photo and perhaps someone offering her a cup of tea.
2/11/12
The PLEASURE OF READING
I have within the past weeks become a caregiver for my father. I have been down this rutted path before so it’s not all new to me. It is lonely, tiring, and mind numbing. I make lists of things I need to do and while making the list I remember something else to add and quickly forget what it was I was already adding. I must remember to eat along with dole out meds, take care of appointments, and even just get the mail. It is at night when I spend a short time reading before sleep that I have a few moments to remember who I am.
Though again, I cannot fully participate in Sepia Saturday, I did want to post a few images for the theme of reading. All but the first image have been posted in the past, but all are moments of someone enjoying the simple pleasure of reading.
My books are my friends and acquaintances. Some I cherish, some I bitterly sneer at. I feel sorry for those who have no connection to books or bookstores. When I go into a home devoid of books I feel the place is incomplete and empty. Anyone who comes into my home and peruses my large bookshelves will find bits of me ready to be taken from the shelves and discovered.
If you arrived via Sepia Saturday do not feel obligated to leave a comment because I cannot do the same.
Click on any image to see it larger.
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