Saturday, May 4, 2024

Week 110 Photo Challenge: History

There was no photo challenge post last week. Grad Girl was running short on time and I was a bit immobile for most of the week before due to knee surgery.  We were all able to get photos this week.  It wasn't an easy subject. 




How do you photograph history?  

I've been cleaning out closets which is what brought the subjects of my photo to mind.  


Kate: Historical Sewing


Once upon a time I made a lot of my own clothes.  Especially for Halloween.  The flapper dress on left was made for a Halloween party when we were in grad school.  Even then all the fringe wasn't cheap.  On the right is the vintage dress I made as a mock up for my wedding dress 33 years ago.  The dress is made of very cheap muslin and the cheapest lace I could find. It actually turned out nicely, but My Guy very wisely persuaded me to buy a dress.  He didn't really want me to stress over getting a dress made. Thankfully, I listened to him. I ended up having gall bladder surgery 6 weeks before the wedding, I would have been hard pressed to finish a dress.  So my photo is a two for one on the history front: historical clothing from my stitching history.   

My Guy went a completely different direction. 

My Guy: Past, Present and Future


This flower is a Swamp Mallow. It only blooms for one day.  If you look closely, a past bloom is in the lower right of the photo, a current bloom is at the top and left side.  Just to the right of middle are the future blooms.  So the history of a bloom all in one photo.  My Guy always comes up with some amazing photos and very unique ways of interpreting the challenge.  

Grad Girl struggled with this one, she sent me a photo last week, but wasn't really thrilled with it. Then she found something she thought was a much better take on the challenge.  


Grad Girl: Family History


There's a story to this photo.  Grad Girl went to seminar last week where the techniques in this paper were discussed.  She decided to look up the subject during the talk because it sounded familiar and found this paper.  There was a reason it sounded familiar. This paper was a big part of my PhD thesis.  The brunette in the photo is me with my advisor. The paper dates from about the same time period as the flapper dress in my photo. The person who gave the seminar is one of her friends and she shared the paper with him. She thought it was fun that the paper was one of mine. 

History wasn't an easy challenge for any of us.  This week's is going to be interesting too. 



  
Grad Girl said it was a rather ironic challenge for a graduate student.  It will be fun to see what she comes up with this week.  

9 comments:

Linda said...

Each of you did such good representations of history, all interesting too! Love the family history, (you is smart!) and the wedding dress. Wow on gall bladder surgery 6 weeks before your wedding!
Good luck with "wealth". :D

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

It's always fun to see how you each meet the challenge - especially since there are always many ways to interpret them! Do you and your guy ever talk about your ideas ahead of time? I bet it was fun to see what Grad Girl came up with!

Sara said...

I love the stories behind your photos this week. How amazing is it that Grad Girl came across your work from all those years ago.

I got married in 1977, and did make my own wedding dress, my husband's shirt, and one of the 2 bridesmaid's dresses. Very stressful. My mom had to hem my dress the night before as I was running out of time.

Brenda said...

I guess I haven't been a fan long enough to know that you are also a scientist! As a long retired scientist myself, I find that very interesting that your child followed in your footsteps. Mine was not at all interested. I look forward to your posts and love the photo contest.

Donna said...

Great takes on the photo topic! Love them all.

Barbara said...

I love how you all have such different takes on a topic. And I loved your flapper dress. I used to sew my own clothes too. When the kids came along and I was working full-time, I pretty much limited my sewing to making their Halloween costumes. If they remember nothing else about growing up, I hope they remember those great costumes.

Andree G. Faubert said...

Hi Kate, your daughter finding your paper sure was a personal history - very cool!

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

Great photos, Kate. It is so interesting to see how all 3 of you interpret the theme. The dresses are gorgeous.

dq said...

The history challenge is fantastic! I liked seeing your pattern and reading about how wise your sweetheart was to encourage you to not make your dress. Surgery before the wedding - no fun!
Grad girl's is great too. Not only is there some of you in it, but it all looks like a lot of science to me.
Your husband's was clever.

Thanks for sharing.