A picture not taken

[dr owl]

In 1972, my young bride and I stopped overnght at the youth hostel in the village of Wanlockhead on our way North. Wanlockhead was, and is, famous for being the highest village in Scotland. In years past, it had had a flourishing lead mine, but by 1972 this had closed and the primary local industry was sheep farming.

We went out separately to try to capture the evening light. When we reviewed the slides (they would have been Agfacolor CT 18 in those days), mine showed a sheep-farming village nestling in the hills of the Lowlands; the Pussycat’s showed the decay of lead mining in the Lowlands.

Both of these visions were truthful of course, though the Pussycat described my pictures as being “chocolate box”. She may well have been right.


Sigh.

Our memories of 1972 Wanlockhead would have been incomplete without either of these sets of slides.

Nowadays, Wanlockhead has capitalized on its lead mining past by opening a “lead mining experience”, so I suspect that there is now more employment in the village than there was then. But both of our visions have become solely historical.

Later,

Dr Owl

John Owlett
Southampton, UK

Leica IIIc & M6, Nikon F3/T, and Rolleiflex 2.8GX

 

[dee]

I have hidden behind a camera due to ASD glitches, and had become anxious that I would miss a moment of, say, an airshow or family birthday etc.
But with the advent of smart phones surrounding [threatening?] me, I have decided just to enjoy the moment of being buzzed by a Spitfire over a relatives area, a vintage car simply parked, an interesting building etc.

it's helped by returning to just a 40mm or 50mm lens in old money, whereby i am restricted by the angle of view, returning to a time when I just shrugged off the impossibility of snapshooting everything.

I find the focus through a camera helps imprinting a certain situation, which is tricky with a world of confusion, but I no longer feel an imperative to capture that moment.

These days, they are not missed snapshots 'cos i don't miss them.

Obviously, my reasons are ... unusual ... so probably not valid in this discussion.

Respect

dee

 

[Steve M.]

Nah, I just trip the shutter. If one stops to consider this or that before taking the shot, then there is usually no shot to take because it's gone.

A short comment about Schroedinger's Cat.......it's silly, and it's not the real world that we live in. Quantum physics is simply best guesses and theories, not actual facts. The cat (and you and I) are either dead or alive. We most certainly are not both or neither. This is still a universe of dualities and cause and effect. One day you and I are alive, and on a future date you and I will be dead, with no third possible choice.