October 3, 2009

Saturday Snapshots {October 3, 2009}


“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” ~ Albert Einstein



{There is beauty in every element of this photo, from the copper tinged early November sunlight to the sense of happiness radiating from these ladies’ smiles as they stand aboard the “SS Roma”, in New York Harbour circa 1953. I wonder, were headed to, or returning from, Italy? Traveling or moving countries?}



{The tense anticipation amongst these young chaps as to who holds what in his respective hand was fantastically captured in this overhead shot, about which no information is provided. Leaving us in as much suspense as the card players it features are in a state of.}



{A woman and a young boy stand, two lone figures, on a railway platform banked by snow in this photo from 1958. Were they counting down the seconds until an arrival or gathering the inner strength to walk away after saying good-bye? The billowing plumes of what looks like steam exhaust leads one to think we are viewing the pair just moments after a train clanked away down the tracks.}



{Four young people – friends, siblings, coworkers? – stroll leisurely down the Ocean City Boardwalk in this well preserved colour photo from 1949. Look closely at the first gal and the one on the far right, don’t you just love their saddle shoes?}



{Two women – who our eyes tell us were elderly – strike a pose that leaves on thinking they’re more like best schoolmates than grandmothers, in this vintage photo for which no background information was provided. I like to think that they were either very close sisters or, indeed, lifelong friends of the highest degree.}



{A family identified as the Gosselins (if you go to the Flickr page where this image is posted, each member is listed by name) pose inside a photographer’s studio, perhaps sporting their Sunday finest, in this wonderfully clear shot from 1946.}



{A woman, her eyebrow playful raised a tad, rests her arm out the window of a bus in this close-up colour shot from “between 1949 and 1954”. As to where our lovely red lipped female traveler was headed is anyone’s guess. I like to think she’s just left the small town family farm for life someplace glamorous like LA or New York, her head bursting with big dreams and grand excitement.}



{His snappy white shoes, her interesting toe ring style sandals, their casual summer duds and inviting smiles, the fact that they’re perched while fully clothed on a diving board, what’s not to love about this great 1950s photo?}



{It’s almost as though you can hear the mother’s words to her adorably round cheeked little child as she points towards the lens in this candid photo from 1961, “Look, sweet heart, there’s daddy, come on, smile for daddy! That’s a good girl”.}



{I could not resist capping off today’s series of shots with one that tied into the wise words that began this post. Here an effervescently charming young girl leads a group of cyclists to as they journey to an unknown destination, in a photo from 1938 that was captured in Alessandria, Piemonte.}

{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}


There are few Einstein quotes I’ve read that did not instantly speak to me on a personal level. Like many of us, I continually feel as though life hinges greatly on the balance that we are able to carve out for ourselves. Some days it is as though we’re juggling plates, others that everything is working in such harmonious order you’re all but afraid to move, lest the balance shift against you. I often find though, that the harder I concentrate on creating balance, the more it eludes me – yet I still try, we all do, and there isn’t a thing wrong with that. Just keep moving, as the wise man said, and somehow everything will remain in a state of equilibrium.

21 comments:

  1. I just love these snapshots that you post. Its wonderful to get weekly glimpses into the past like this. Thank you. :)

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  2. The lady with the curlers is soo funny!

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  3. Jessica, your blog is such an inspiration to me! These found photos were beautiful and made me feel melancholic and happy at the same time.

    Even better - my mother used to own curlers like the lady sitting on her porch with her chubby little baby on her knee!

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  4. the pictures are soo warm!! i love them...

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  5. I just love the photo with the two ladies, I can see them as young women! The one after it is indeed so very clear, it's fabulous.

    Thanks darling,
    xxx

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  6. I love the photos! All made me smile :)

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  7. Thank you so much for these snapshots !I love them so much !

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  8. What grand pictures! The mother with her hair and curls with the baby sat on her knee really made me giggle, I can so imagine the mother telling the child to smile. Such a delightfully innocent picture!

    Thank you in addition for the kind birthday wishes xx

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  9. Love this weeks shots! The hat in the first one is fabulous and I love the family portrait! I'm getting ready to post more from my family album today! Hope you're well!

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  10. I love the family picture and the lady's dress on the left-fabulous!

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  11. Hello there. Great post as usual. I really do enjoying seeing what you will post next. I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. Take care. Have a fantastic week ahead. Cheers!

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  12. It´s beautiful to see photos of ordinary people from years gone by. It also makes me humble and very aware of life impermanence... So thanks for a great post !

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  13. I love that photo of the kids playing poker! It brought me back to poker games with my cousin when were eight or so - we would gather up all of the junky little knick-knacks we didn't want anymore and play poker for them. We would choose one item from the person's line up and put them both in the center. Whoever won the game got both.

    Usually we ended up trading after the game anyways :-)

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  14. Fabulous photos again this week!

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  15. I love the outfit of the woman sitting on the diving board! It's so unexpected but something that could easily be recreated today!

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  16. I love these photos! Makes you want to know all about their lives. Hope you had a great weekend dear friend. :)

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  17. Oh I started scrolling and looking and most of the photos stirred something inside me...memories...of moments...feelings...things that I haven't thought about for a long time...playing cards with my Nanna...the old swimming pool at a childhood home...sending Granma home from her yearly visit on a train...my Mum photographed in curlers on the front steps...thank you dearest...

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  18. I love old photos!! Like gone spirits that are still around. What happened to their families? When did these photos go missing? At least they are out here for us to enjoy.

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  19. I SO dig that pool photo!! Very swank!

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  20. Good morning, my lovely dears, thank you each very much for your wonderful comments. I truly enjoy reading your thoughts - and about the memories - these vintage photos make you think of. It's fantastic that we all share a deep rooted love of images from the past.

    Wishing you each a marvelous Thursday - big hugs!
    ♥ Jessica

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