Tag: old times

I had always converted this image to a black and white. It just seemed to lend itself to that. It just invoked a sad look which is how this old tree made me feel.

An acquaintance of mine stopped me and told of how she always liked this image, it made her happy. I had to inquire as to how she felt happiness looking at an image of a dead tree. She told me that she had grown up in the town (Coyonosa TX) near the tree. There once was an old store next to the then living green leafed tree, offering perhaps the best nearby shade. Her and friends would buy their iced down Nehi’s and a box of Sugar Baby’s. Rest in the life that simply could not be any better!

Drink ’em if you got ’em, in the shade if you can.

 

“Photographs open doors to the past but they also allow a look into the future”                                                                                                                                  Sally Mann

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #673 – TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

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As Super Bowl XLVIII approaches this seems an appropriate post.

Ah, the fun of cleaning up a bunch of old boxes. You never know what treasures you might stumble upon.

People often ask me how long have I been a photographer. I can’t really remember a time that I wasn’t. I covered 3 Super Bowls when they were still in single digits.

My father was a well known camera repairman in the Dallas area. I worked with him for a short time when I was a young teenager. That was a treasure in itself. He knew most of the well known area photographers, they came to him to get his help and advice. One of my favorite customers was Jim Laughead. He was a real character. He always donned a wide brimmed fedora and a red vest. He carved out a niche for himself photographing all the major college and professional football teams across the United States.

He asked me what I wanted to do for a living and I told him I wanted his job. He asked if I was interested in football photograph and I said yes. He invited me to come to a Dallas Cowboy game with him. He gave me and my dad sideline passes to come watch the Cowboys play against the New York Giant at the old Cotton Bowl on December 1, 1963. I was fifteen years old.

I got to watch Sam Huff, Y A Tittle (in his hi-tops in 2nd pic), Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, Eddie Lebaron, Bob Lilly, Cornel Green, Jerry Tubbs and Chuck Howley and of course Tom Landry in his iconic fedora.

I had only a twin lens Rolleiflex to shoot with, but it was more the being there. That was one perfect day, even if the Cowboys lost.

It was almost as much fun coming across a few of the photos I took that day.

You can visit the past, you just can’t stay there. en theos ††† jim

IMAGES OF SMALL – THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #648 – Well this ain’t little & not from West TX, but…

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How better to start the new year then with a blast from the past. I know I am showing my age, but this is a photo I made of Janis Joplin at the Lewisville Pop Festival on Labor day 1969. The print is old and weathered (much like me) it was made from old Tri-X film pushed developed in hot HC 110 to get an ASA of about 3200. That was pushing the limits of low light photograph. Even with the grain and the age of the print the memory is sharp as a tack. I was the “official photographer” for the event put on by Angus Wynne III. I had complete access everywhere for the three day event. At that time in my life it was three heavenly days. I had the pleasure of trading a hit from my poorly rolled joint for a hit from Janis’s bottle of Southern Comfort as she took stage. It was another time another life, but I still get goose bumps every time I hear “Me and Bobby McGee” written by Kris Kristoffenson.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXV_QjenbDw

from wikipedia:

“The festival was the brainchild of Angus G. Wynne III, son of Angus G. Wynne, the founder of the Six Flags Over Texas Amusement Park. Wynne was a concert promoter who had attended the Atlanta International Pop Festival on the July Fourth weekend. He decided to put a festival on near Dallas, and joined with the Atlanta festival’s main organizer, Alex Cooley,forming the company Interpop Superfest.

Artists performing at the festival were: Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, Canned Heat, Chicago (then called Chicago Transit Authority), Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Freddie King, Grand Funk Railroad, Herbie Mann, Incredible String Band, James Cotton, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, Nazz, Rotary Connection, Sam and Dave, Santana, Shiva’s Headband, Sly and the Family Stone, Space Opera, Spirit, Sweetwater, Ten Years After and Tony Joe White.

North of the festival site was the campground on Lewisville Lake, where hippie attendees skinny-dipped and bathed. Also on the campground was the free stage, where some bands played after their main stage gig and several bands not playing on the main stage performed. It was on this stage that Wavy Gravy, head of the Hog Farm commune, acquired his name. (At Woodstock, he was Hugh Romney.)

The Merry Pranksters, Ken Kesey’s group, was in charge of the free stage and camping area. While Kesey was neither at the Texas event nor at Woodstock, his right hand man, Ken Babbs, and his psychedelic bus Further were. The Hog Farm provided security, a trip tent, and free food.

Attendance at the festival remains unknown, but is estimated between 120,000 and 150,000. As with Woodstock, there were no violent crimes reported. There was one death, due to heatstroke, and one birth.

High-quality soundboard bootleg recordings of almost the entire festival are circulated on the internet. Led Zeppelin’s set is one of the most popular Led Zeppelin bootlegs due to the high technical and musical quality of the performance.”

Own your past move on and live for the new times. ††† en theos ††† jim

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #163

I could imagine the smell of talc and a mixture of Barbicide, shaving cream and Old Spice. There would be those tall bottles filled with colorful liquids of unknown purpose. Lined in front of a mirror that reflected another mirror and the images faded to infinity. A glass carafe of burnt coffee and and the odor of snubbed out cigarette buttes in a sand filled canister ash tray.  My heart warmed for  a hot towel and a straight razor shave.  I felt my Grandpa Jim walk by, nice.

How the times change, sometimes even for the good.

A lot from a quick glimpse of an old style, man’s barbershop in T or C, NM. How long has it been since you been in one?

Sometimes it good to visit the past on your journey†††nada te turbe….jim