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April 27, 2006
Images from Arthur
For the first time, Photoshop has really felt like a darkroom. I have been scanning negatives like a fiend, trying to piece together a puzzle of images. We're never quite sure what scene might appear when I hit "invert" or pull the levels, revealing a ghostly outline, when a figure or a tree. Even when the photograph emerges, I am unsure of what I am seeing.
Who were you, Arthur, and how in the world did these fractions of your life wind up beneath my scanner bed?
Posted by callalillie at April 27, 2006 7:19 AM | City Life , Little Things
That last one is the most intriguing of all. Gosh, it seems like it might be a European grave judging by what I can see of the dates.
Posted by: beth at April 27, 2006 1:49 PM
there's a whole series of them. i'm not sure where the graveyard is but i have a feeling that the man's family was norwegian, as there are some other photos that allude to the fact.
Posted by: corie at April 27, 2006 2:05 PM
Posted by: yp at April 27, 2006 2:21 PM
What a treasure.
It is exciting to know this type of discovery can still happen -
Though I think those negatives found you as much as you found them.
Posted by: Tiya at April 27, 2006 3:23 PM
Love these!
I keep meaning to start in on scanning my old negatives.
Procrastination....and all that jazz.
I'll get around to it. Eventually.
Posted by: Buffy at April 27, 2006 5:19 PM
Haunting, poignant, funny, brilliant.
Serendipity or fate?
There was a piece on "This American Life" recently about a pair of friends who found hundreds of letters from the 40s and 50s scattered on a desert highway. They were all addressed to the same woman, amd most of them were from servicemen deployed overseas. They usually addressed it to "mom," and it was clear that they she meant a lot to them although none had ever met her.
One of the friends was obsessed and researched the woman's back story, which had some sad and sordid details. The other friend couldn't handle the possibility that his narrative about this woman might be destroyed by the new information... it was a really cool story.
You should check it out in their archives.
Posted by: Dope on the Slope at April 28, 2006 12:46 PM
These "Arthur" images are fascinating. If you're into found stuff like this, check out:
http://www.foundmagazine.com/index.php?fuseaction=finds.home
Who knew old scraps of paper and crumpled polaroids could say so much? It's another great website (although your blog is still my favourite! Thanks for doing it!)
Posted by: English Dork at April 30, 2006 2:00 PM
