Postcard Exchange Round 66 Comments and Feedback

[hwv]

Last week, I received two postcards.
@Simon I sent me a wonderful lith print: a cemetery overgrown with grasses. The photo beautifully captures the transience of all existence. The brown tones and the contrast of the lith print further emphasize this sense of impermanence.
@AnselMortensen "At Ease" A very well-developed large-format photograph of people who appear relaxed and cheerful as they create a large-format photo of a soldier. Since I am a native German speaker and didn’t know the term “at ease,” I had it translated. ChatGPT suggested „entspannt“, „ruhig“, „wohlfühlen“ or „unbefangen“, „gelassen“ as possible translations — all descriptions that I also see reflected in the image.
As an additional translation in a military context, there’s also „Rührt euch!“, the opposite of "Stillgestanden!" — which makes this a perfect title for this photo.

 

[Ajven]

Today I received:
"White Bay Power Station" by @gbroadbridge - the beauty of old machines - no displays, no keyboards. Gauges, switches, aligned in mystic order. I like old machines. Thank you for this postcard!
"At Ease" by @AnselMortensen - contact prints look always incredible, full of details. Quite curious how old is the negative. And I agree with hwv - perfect title for the postcard. By the way this is the first time I received a postcards from USA without rounded post stamp "USA Forever" - so extra kudos for the stamps with different motive! Thank you.

This round I'm a little behind my schedule. Still no picture selected for postcard....

 

[Don_ih]

I received At Ease by @AnselMortensen, also. I discovered that the ink the post office smears on the print rubs off pretty easily. I like the photo - I like found negatives (I have a pile of them). I am a bit curious about the marking on the back of the postcard - namely, the line that bisects the card. If you'd care to elaborate?

It's very odd for me to start receiving cards before I even send mine. I don't think it's ever happened. Between the postal strike and being kinda busy, I haven't been taking many photos - and I tend to only ever want to use new photos for postcards. Perhaps next week....

 

[AnselMortensen]

Hi, @Don_ih,
Some prints were attached to pre-made postcard 'backing stickers', for others I just used Avery mailing label material after I ran out of the pre-printed type. .
I suspect yours has the pre-printed version.
Cheers!

 

[Don_ih]

pre-made postcard 'backing stickers'

Interesting - I've never heard of such a thing. I can't even tell it's a sticker.

 

[rduraoc]

Today I got three (3!) postcards in my mailbox:
@AnselMortensen 's "At ease" contact print, @Jim Christie 's digitally printed "Too many Wheelbarrows" (paper texture is wonderful), and @vbenares 's "Clouds & Mountains" sent using Touchnote. 3 very different approaches, which help make the PCX a great experience.

 

[Daniela]

I also got @AnselMortensen 's "At ease". Lovely crisp print and so many questions about the depicted situation! I'm glad there was someone else with a camera there.

By the way, what's up with the two swords printed over the stamps? I've never seen that before...

 

[AnselMortensen]

By the way, what's up with the two swords printed over the stamps? I've never seen that before...

Sometimes the US Postal service does thematic postmarks...for holidays, Earth Day, etc.
Maybe it is one of those...not sure about swords, though...

 

[Daniela]

Sometimes the US Postal service does thematic postmarks...for holidays, Earth Day, etc.
Maybe it is one of those...not sure about swords, though...

Here's a picture. Poor little squirrels LOL Actually, looking at it more closely, I think it was just supposed to be two (strange) lines, but the ink got caught on the edge of the stamps (you can see it in the first four)

 

[Don_ih]

I just received Too Many Wheelbarrows from @Jim Christie --- and that sure is too many wheelbarrows. Very cool photo. However, I think someone dropped it on the floor and stomped on it a few times on its way here. Part of the photo is totally scuffed off and there are numerous folds. It has battle scars.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Here's a picture. Poor little squirrels LOL Actually, looking at it more closely, I think it was just supposed to be two (strange) lines, but the ink got caught on the edge of the stamps (you can see it in the first four)

View attachment 410295

Aha!...that is the result of someone cancelling the stamps with a marker.
Barbaric!

 

[mfohl]

Got two nice cards today. absalom1951's "Bent Railing". A nice scene from a wooded area where there is what's left of a metal protective fence rail. It's more than bent, it's broken in places. And Michael Howard's "Smith Mountain". This is a (very) desolate area in California with a mountain in the background. According to the card, there was silver and gold mining here. And the card mentions the living conditions, which would be extremely difficult. Folks back then must have been made of tougher stuff. Thanks Tom, thanks Michael.

 

[Ajven]

Aha!...that is the result of someone cancelling the stamps with a marker.
Barbaric!

My squirrels arrived clean and safe!

 

[AnselMortensen]

^^^ Excellent!

 

[Ajven]

Yesterday I received "Too Many WheelBarrows" by @Jim Christie : 24 hours ago and I'm still wondering how is possible to stack this amount of wheelbarrows.. Nice and fun postcard. Thank you very much!

 

[mfohl]

I received two nice cards.

The first is Clouds and Mountains by vbenares. It is one of those automatically processed and mailed cards. It is a really cool shot of clouds in a mountain scene. You can see hardly any of the mountains except for two spectacular snow covered peaks on the right. Where is this? Where did you get the shot from?

The second is a classic graveyard scene lith print from Simon I. One large stone in the foreground, a few smaller ones in the back. Gravestones surrounded by trees and grass. Overall dark scene, the darks being a rich reddish brown from the lith treatment.

Thanks Monica! Thanks Simon!

 

[rduraoc]

I got a nice postcard from @absalom1951 titled "Bent railing", printed on Slavich Unibrom paper. I had never seen this paper, and the surface is very appealing.

 

[Don_ih]

the surface is very appealing

It sure is. I received the card from @absalom1951 yesterday. It's a very intriguing image. I'm gonna guess a tree fell on the railing (which I assume is steel). The print has an amazing range of tones. Very nice!

 

[rduraoc]

And today was the day of receiving @Michael Howard 's "Smith Mountain", a nice print from an impressive scenery. Thanks!

 

[Don_ih]

@mfohl -- I received your "substandard" card today. It doesn't look substandard to me at all - it looks great. I think the paper printed very well and the photo is cool.

 

[hwv]

So, it's time to thank you for the next postcards I received during the last two weeks:

@vbenares "Clouds & Mountains": A beautiful image of snow-covered mountains with two peaks rising above the clouds.
@gbroadbridge "White Bay Power Station": A photo of the control room of an old power plant. I love photos of old electromechanical technology. A very nice print.
@absalom1951 "Bent Railing": I love subjects for photos like this — one that many others would have overlooked. Very beautiful and processed completely analog.
@Jim Christie "Wheelbarrows": A wonderful picture that depicts order and chaos at the same time. I like the composition and the fact that the print is perfect.
@Michael Howard "Smith Mountain": The barren landscape in California that once held rich treasures beneath its surface. Very nice paper, well exposed and developed.

 

[hwv]

After spending the past few weeks trying in vain to make my bathroom darkroom completely light-tight again — rebuilt after all these years — I finally decided to pull a late-night session yesterday. At last, I managed to enlarge my postcards! Now I just need to address them, and they’ll be ready to go out…

 

[rduraoc]

My postcards are ready, and will be sent out in the next few days. I'll apologize to everyone upfront for a typo in the message (there's an extra "s" somewhere), but I only realized after sticking the label in the postcards, and halfway through putting stamps on them...

 

[ChrisR]

Just returned from a few days away to find an envelope with Michael Howard's "Portal 2" from Dublin Gulch, Shoshone CA. A lovely print that I'm appreciating more as I look at it, showing a small hand made cave used as living quarters by miners. I think that's my first this round. Thanks Michael!

 

[absalom1951]

Have received 3 cards from;

Ansel Mortensen, "At Ease" . A contact print, am curious of the year this was took and what branch of service? Great print. Thanks Ansel..

Mark Fohl, "Jag". Not many Jags around my neck of the woods. I'm guessing that's a Jaguar as the hood ornament? Great composure. Thanks Mark..

Michael Howard, "Portal 1". Old doors are one of my favorite subjects. The photo makes me wonder what's on the other side of the door, what brand is the lock. Thanks Michael..