I have recently started exploring ideas for my input to the next exhibition with Great Western Embroiderers. We will be at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery from Saturday 25 May to Saturday 7 September - a long time - and it will be a most interesting challenge. We have to respond to and base our work around the large photograph archive at the Museum and our work will be exhibited alongside photographs and photographic equipment from the archives. There will be much more about all this as the weeks go by.
So far I have almost completed work featuring a local hedgerow similar to a photograph in the archive. This piece, begun in October and shown in a detail here, has been a relaxation - the stitching equivalent of a gentle holiday read. It was much needed in a very busy and at times stressful and disorienting period before Christmas. Indeed for much of this time I couldn't find it within myself to think new thoughts or experiment with new ways of working.
This week though, I've looked at a small package of photographs from the archive that I requested from Sophie Cummings, the very helpful curator at the museum. All are from before the 1960s and some are from the turn of the 20th century so there are interesting thoughts to consider and perhaps to exploit.
In this request, I chose photos of people going about their business or of streets with architectural features that interested me. I'm posting a selection with some initial thoughts.
There were chimneys,
Men leaving work at lunch time - I love those bowler hats and cloth caps and I wonder where they are going,
Edwardian house fronts with bay windows and extraordinary forms of transport,
and shoppers in an Edwardian street.
In all these photos, I'm struck by the lack of traffic - extraordinary to the modern eye - and in some, trams on the move (funny how things can come round again). I love that pram bottom left. It brings back memories of a photo of my father just before the first world war in a pram just like that!
Exploring local history through my work is a new departure for me and there is already much to play with in this small selection of photographs. It will be interesting to see where it takes me.
So far I have almost completed work featuring a local hedgerow similar to a photograph in the archive. This piece, begun in October and shown in a detail here, has been a relaxation - the stitching equivalent of a gentle holiday read. It was much needed in a very busy and at times stressful and disorienting period before Christmas. Indeed for much of this time I couldn't find it within myself to think new thoughts or experiment with new ways of working.
This week though, I've looked at a small package of photographs from the archive that I requested from Sophie Cummings, the very helpful curator at the museum. All are from before the 1960s and some are from the turn of the 20th century so there are interesting thoughts to consider and perhaps to exploit.
In this request, I chose photos of people going about their business or of streets with architectural features that interested me. I'm posting a selection with some initial thoughts.
There were chimneys,
Men leaving work at lunch time - I love those bowler hats and cloth caps and I wonder where they are going,
Edwardian house fronts with bay windows and extraordinary forms of transport,
and shoppers in an Edwardian street.
In all these photos, I'm struck by the lack of traffic - extraordinary to the modern eye - and in some, trams on the move (funny how things can come round again). I love that pram bottom left. It brings back memories of a photo of my father just before the first world war in a pram just like that!
Exploring local history through my work is a new departure for me and there is already much to play with in this small selection of photographs. It will be interesting to see where it takes me.
What fantastic photographs to work with. Have fun. xx
ReplyDeleteThey are great aren't they? The museum has an amazing archive of photos. These represent just a tiny fraction of what's available but I have to start somewhere!
DeleteI'm always amazed when I remember how working men used to wear suits to work, and their hats too. The headgear of course differentiated the class of job: bowlers for more bureaucratic occupations.
ReplyDeleteInteresting photos you have chosen. I am intrigued by the hanging of washing in what appears to be the front of the houses. Perhaps they had no back yards.
It's quite a project. I look forward to seeing it progress.
Great to hear from you, Olga.
DeleteThis is indeed a fascinating project which is giving me much to think about. Not least, with so much material at my disposal, there is the issue of just which of the many interesting leads to pursue. Also I currently feel a strong need to follow things in a way that builds on my current ways of working and interests rather than going off at a tangent. On first looking at the archive in the autumn, I was drawn to the architectural aspects of the buildings and their links to the living conditions of the people of the town. This is my current approach.
On the subject of the washing in the front garden, Google informs me via Swindon Web (http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=116&ss=341) that the houses in the Railway Village were known as 'The Backsies'. They were built back to back and only separated from the next row at the rear by a very narrow lane. It seems they did have back yards but they were tiny and also contained the outside privvy. Perhaps the yards were just too small to accommodate a good sized family wash. I have found photos to publish in my next post which may be of interest.
Admitting that your blog is one of several I put on hold back in December and am just getting back to. I know that I will want to do more than quickly scan your posts so when I get overloaded, yours get saved for a time when I can leisurely enjoy the contents. And you do not disappoint! I love this idea you've come up with for a possible focus of your work. I've always been interested in local history, haunting the libraries in whatever town we ended up in as my husband's job changes moved us around, checking out books to find out more about the history of each area. And of course, I've also delved into quilt history over the years too. Really fascinating studying old photos like these. I think this adventure of yours will be an adventure for all of us.
ReplyDeleteVery many thanks fir you kind comments about my blog, Sheila. Funnily enough, that I is exactly what I do with your blog. There is always so much to absorb that, after a quick scan through, I save careful reading till I can read slowly and do it justice.
DeleteI’m really enjoying this new focus and have some more little glimpses ready to show when I find the time to sit down and write. As I’m sure you know, the problem with writing longer posts is that they involve a considerable time commitment. ! Incidentally, if you’re interested I now also post on Instagram - a much faster process - as charlton_stitcher where I post more frequently.
Always nice to hear that a reader really does appreciate my often wordy and in-depth posts. It is so true that the kind of blogging we do takes thought and time to prepare but I get so much out of the process myself that it is worth my effort.
DeleteI feel like a curmudgeon when I have to tell people I do not do Instagram. I know it is the perfect format for many people but the few times I have popped over there to look at a friend's page, I find it visually overwhelms me and is lacking the sort of information I expect because it IS meant to be lots of pictures, little text, while blogging is usually the opposite. I AM on Facebook and appreciate those who have linked their instagram accounts to it so I can view the occasional photo without the blare of the entire experience. And frankly, I decided I just didn't want to add one more social media platform needing my time and attention. It sounds like it is working for you though. Maybe I will go have a look . . . ;-)
I don't think you're a curmudgeon at all. I think we all have to find our own ways of dealing with digital media - and feel pleased that we have actually found out how to do any of it! So many of our age group have no use for it (or even for the internet at all) and I think they miss out hugely.
DeleteI don't ever post to Facebook, although I am on it. I use it mainly to keep up with the doings of my children and their families and a few friends who post there regularly. I also look at the pages of one or two organisations linked to my interests. Apart from the organisations, all the people I tap into operate in closed groups which can only be seen by their chosen few. When they post, I comment much as I do on Instagram but that is all so it occupies very little of my time and keeps me in touch.
Of everything though, it's undoubtedly blogging that gives me the most pleasure. I enjoy the whole process of writing and find that it helps me sort out ideas. Neither of the other platforms can deliver that.
Incidentally, you are in control on Instagram and it doesn't have to be visually overwhelming. You only see images posted by people you choose to follow - as many or as few of those as you like. You can ignore requests to follow from people and delete those from your list that you don't want. And you can and should ignore the whole thing without feeling guilty if that is your wish!