She Kept A Parrot
A Journal For Charlie
Memory of Gates
Welcome Home
Storybook Man
Abandoned Wren House In The Secret Garden
Jeans On A door
Boots On The Floor
They said I was an infant once...I don't remember.
Print In A Bathroom
Dean's Poundcake In The Kitchen
Coffee In The Kitchen
A Grandbaby In The House
The Movers Came
Every Gate Swings Both Ways
46 Comments on “Memory of Gates”
Comments
She Kept A Parrot 
The jeans really grabbed me as did the pound cake. I bet you have more stuff in one room than I do in my entire miniature apartment. I have to travel thousands of miles for my subjects, you just roll out of bed and hit the Mickey Ds…I actually envy this
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Since I am a hermit, my world is limited to a blissful adventure to Mickey D’s and a fast retreat. I always liked my little cave and carried my finds, like a squirrel, home with me. I carried too many. I’ve had to divide my stuff in halves several times over the years. Now, I think I may have the piles down to a manageable number. I have only one closet devoted to boxes of stuff.
I remember your fantastic post with photos of the seedy hotel room. You transformed that place into something beautiful. That ability to see will carry you into very old age. You don’t need a houseful of “things”. You can find wonderful characters at Mickey D’s if you get bored! Those photographs stuck in my head. That has to say something about your vision, Michael.
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Or ours George…:-)
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I knew as soon as I clicked over to this post, as soon as I saw WELCOME HOME, that a story was about to be told. And I wasn’t wrong.
I look at a lot of photoblogs George, a lot…some of them exhibiting exceptional technique and skill. These are people who, no doubt, know their way around a camera, and I’m in awe. But when I see photographs such as these, I know this is someone who knows their way around life…and the camera is there to record it.
I love Boots On The Floor, Coffee In The Kitchen…and that last one, Every Gate Swings Both Ways. WOW! (and so very true)
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I’m glad you liked them, Alex. In the end, I think we gather up the photographs that document a life. The great ones are a real pleasure to look at, but the details of life are the ones that stick. I’m glad I have these. Thank you for seeing them the way I see them.
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There is something that grabs my heart when I look at these images. While you’re telling your story, I am realizing that there are photographs that I am not taking, but should be…. I am struck in particular by Dean’s poundcake, the jeans on the door, the boots, and grandbaby in the house…. These shots capture fleeting, yet quotidian moments that make up our lives. Your photographs express a wonderful warmth and humanity. I imagine that each one, while captured in an instant, can evoke many, many memories.
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Yes. Take every photograph you can take of that baby. Of the little things. Of her stuff, family things that represent all of you. Dean thought he baked the best poundcake ever. I could bake a better one, but that remained my little secret. I preferred to have cake batter all over the kitchen than to bake myself. He was a good cook too. Now that he is gone, I have bird food in the refrigerator and some yard eggs from my friend here who has Silkie hens. The jeans and shoes remind me as much of him as his photographs do…of different things about him that you don’t see in portraits. I’m glad I have them. And, I’m glad you see what I see.
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Beautiful photos. Seeing them in black and white seems to make them more effective. I find the first to be my favourite – and the one of the coffeepot.
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Thank you, Colline. I’m glad you like them. I like the lamppost too and the coffee pot. I no longer keep the pot in the kitchen. Things are in different places in the new house. Some of my things are in boxes. Life is different here, but it is good. Thanks for visiting.
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I like the two gate photos, particularly the last one, but the whole set tells a story in a mixture of different ways. And I love stories.
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I like gate photos too. Glad you like them, Lady D. I have to get back to your stories soon. Otherwise, I will never catch up. Thanks.
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I was so entertained by all the comments that I forgot what I was going to say! Another reason to love your blog.
All of your pictures say “welcome home” to me….
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Aw, thanks, Elisa! It makes me feel good for people to enjoy the company here. You guys are so good to me. I love the chatter too. Makes me feel as if I know everybody. 🙂
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Beautiful!!
Great memories George.
I love these black and white shots; the last one is so pretty and delicate; and the one with the jeans hanging on the door is so amazing, I don’t know why I liked it so much, it’s sucha simple photo, but I guess it’s because I never saw a picture of it.
Nice post George!
Hope you are doing great.
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Thank you, Pablo. You are my sweet boy. I liked the same ones. 🙂
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all of these tell a story…i do like the b&w treatment
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As you know, Gail, I am not a photographer. I couldn’t be if I tried. I have a self-limiting tremor, but I like to play with photographs. I am pleased that you liked these. I like looking through my old photographs. I am mesmerized when I look at your work and your presentation of it. It really does astound me. Thank you for coming to see me. Come on back now…
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will DO…I appreciate you taking your time to look!
and…a photographer takes pictures…you take pictures..therefore you ARE a photographer….
🙂
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Even without the titles every picture has something to say! This post is very “George”! Thanks for sharing it with us! 🙂
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Thanks for sharing them with me. Yes, I think you are right. I do see things in much the same way all the time, don’t I? Interesting observation there, Ana.
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love the jeans! hey, can you do the colorizing thing where you just add color to one object? i bet the jeans would look cool if you can do that.
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I love black and white photos. Those photos are wonderful!!
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Thank you, Terri. I have trouble forcing myself away from color. Black and white are my favorite photographs though. Since I am not a photographer, I use photographs to tell a story. They certainly could not stand alone as good photos. I have a familial tremor in my right hand that does not allow me to take sharp photographs even with my VR lenses.
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I would have never known that…I really do think they are wonderful, and that each stands alone. You mentioned a secret garden…sounds mysterious! I have always wanted a small garden that was enclosed. Sounds nice!!
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There was an area that used to be a vegetable garden behind our house against two adjoining sections of a tall wooden fence. I planted an angle of bushes and crepe myrtle trees along a line that I spray painted on the grass. They grew into a natural wall. Inside the area, I “paved” the floor with flat stones and sand. There was a working fountain and stone benches and a table, chairs, and an iron archway into it. There were crepe myrtles and Loquat trees around the inside walls. The crepe myrtles grew almost together over the top. It was really nice to sit out there. This one was fairly large, but you could create the same thing anywhere, however small the area. I used large plants in pots wherever I liked them. I always enjoyed it. Thanks for your kind comment, Terri!
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I enjoyed reading that… it sounds wonderful. A lot of reflection time there I’m sure. I have crepe myrtles here, and look forward to their blooms every year!!
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Beautiful emotional flow. The shifting styles have a stronger emotional impact as you read the sequence over again. They add layers of meaning, but hey take awhile to process. Sort of like some pieces of jazz music, you don’t get it the first time.
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Ah, elmeliat. You always understand me, don’t you? Thank you.
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Beautiful, so beautiful photographs… Fascinated me dear George, you are amazing. Thank you, have a nice day, with my love, nia
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I like the photos, and they also reminded me of how different snips and pieces of life… and personal history can bring back a memory of a world too deep and wide to really describe in its entirety. And though I do get the feeling that you wanted to show some random shots here, which is fine, it seems to me that something is lost when different styles of photography are intermingled. For instance, if you had put a color photo in the midst of these, it would have jarred the expression of the group of photos as a whole. But this also happened when you put a different style in among the conventional black and whites. Grandbaby is sort of borderline. But movers is already a whole different story. It is a style that demands a different sort of appreciation from the viewer.
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I knew I was doing that. I didn’t really like it either, but the pencil sketch symbolized the effect that the move had on me. So I decided to leave it. I also knew the baby’s pajamas photo was wrong. It is one of those special effects photographs. I couldn’t find the original when I tried to change it back. You and I are on the same page, Shimon. I’m glad to hear it. Thanks for the critique.
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a pair of jeans on a door reminds me of a woman without pants.
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It would, now wouldn’t it, RB!! You can worry when it starts reminding you of what it used to remind you of.. You always make me grin.
This happens to be a man’s godawful jeans. The man would only wear some cheap brand of Wrangler jeans. We laughed at his $25 jeans with his $75 polo golf shirts. He was a character.
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Adds a different connotation to “Memory of Gates”, poetic, but different.
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very poetic. very different.
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actually, my intent was just to follow the poignant comments of shimon and get a laugh with a basic instinct comment about a woman without pants.
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I do like your “basic instinct” reference. I do believe that is the real you, RB! We are basic all right, you and I. Basically irreverent, that is.
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yup. got that right, as maybe you can tell from my fiction.
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I don’t believe we grew up in “delicate circumstances”. I never learned the fine art of social conformity. It’s way too late to take it up now. Besides, it’s boring. 😉
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hey, look. next chapter.
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Stop it. If you did something to Lizzie, you’re gonna’ pay….New Joisey style…
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I mean Jane. You already killed off Lizzie up front!
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Oh, you are hopeless, E. You make me laugh out loud. Such a mischievous little boy!
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Hi George,
I don’t think it’s me, or the quiet late hour, but these photographs are very evocative, and even the titles of each one gives me pause. This is a wonderful post.
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Thank you, Naomi. I have a lot of photographs from the “old house” where we lived for over thirty years. I was just looking through them, and it occurred to me that we have to be willing to walk through gates. Those who try to hang onto the past refuse to experience life, I think. I just threw some photographs up there to try to make that point. I am older than most of you here. I know how difficult it is for younger people to experience loss and go forward. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
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