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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Caption This 115


Please caption this image
[Click here for Caption This instructions]
Montreal, QC, August 2008 [Click image to enlarge]

Dusty old bookstores in densely populated inner city neighborhoods can be treasures no matter what you're looking for. For this potential customer, the payoff was a long lost book. For me, walking through the very same streets long ago frequented by my own parents, the image was the thing.

Whenever I come across scenes like this, I often wonder how much longer they will exist. The relentless march of so-called progress seems intent on wiping the concept of quaint cleanly off the urban landscape. I feel compelled to capture them while I still can.

Your turn: Time to get captioning. This image, reflective in so many ways, needs you to come up with a snappy, witty or otherwise creative title or caption. Enter once or enter countless times - your only limit is your imagination. Bring friends along, if you wish - I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. Click the comments link below to get started, or head over here for a Caption This primer.

About last week's scene from outside a restaurant: I always feel a touch sorry when I shoot complete strangers without their permission. Had they been identifiable, I could have approached them and asked them to sign a release. But I'm more interested in spontaneous, real scenes. It isn't real after you've shoved paper in someone's face.

And so I shoot. Let the optical chips fall where they may. Getting back to business, this week's honorable menschens are:
  • Anne: "Almost finished."
  • Pamela: "Bootlegging."
  • Robin: "Age & Panes."
  • PastorMac's Ann: "Night Panes."
  • Carli: "I never thought I'd get down on one knee to ask this, but, George. . . gosh, I'm so nervous. . . George, will you go to the inter-county tractor show with me?"
Robin's "Closing time" takes the cake this week. I lifted my camera in the first place because the scene through the window seemed like such a peaceful way to end a long day of work for these no-longer-young employees. Robin's caption reflected what I was thinking as I took the shot. If you haven't visited her blog, Around The Island, you're missing a unique experience. She shares vivid vignettes of words and photos of her family and life just outside Tel Aviv, and has quickly become a favorite read of mine.

One more thing: Don't forget to share your reflective-themed photos here.

19 comments:

  1. 'OK, so 105 shops and no Inkheart - perhaps this is the one....' :-)

    or

    'Yay! I finaly found the Little Shop Around the Corner!'

    Hey Carmi, Netchick sent me here today. In the UK you will still find book stalls on the sidewalks on the weekend, with people selling memories for a cut-price.

    But I worry that this T'Internet thingy is gradually eroding our social lives and leaving us with our insular lives.

    Looking down at that wonderful picture of Dahlia I don't think your children will suffer the doom-laden fate I foresee - what a rounded life they are living with their wonderful parents :-D

    cq

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  2. Thank you Carmi, and the admiration is definitely mutual.

    For this week, I'm going to go with "Pondering". I thought of a few more tongue in cheek captions, but they didn't feel right.

    I live in one of those urban neighborhoods that still has lots of funny little privately owned stores, even a crafts/stationary/school books store, but sadly not a used bookstore among them. Of course even if there were all the books would be in Hebrew which isn't nearly as much fun (for me, I'm sure it's fine for native speakers - for me it still feels a bit too much like work). On the bright side, a cute little cafe gallery just opened up the road. It's on my "things to investigate" list :).

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  3. "Shadow was already into the bookstore, man would have to follow"

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  4. The tech guy quivers with anger outside the bookstore. " These should all be E-books. How dare they print them on paper."

    After lobbying the government to supply the technology sector with the bailout money that was to go to the automakers, the internet cabal burned down the bookstore.

    Dressed in their hooded robes and drinking the blood of the innocent, the tec-savvy got on their Segway scooters and went to burn down the library.

    Funny though, the internet only newspapers made no mention of the previous nights fires.

    Ray Bradbury

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  5. Hello Carmi!
    Little Bookshop of Horrors. "Read me Seymor, read me now!"

    "New to Federal politics, Jack Layton was confused when told to find the pages."

    "We're fully booked."

    "Where's Walden."

    "The bookstore was the tallest building in town - it had the most stories."

    "Book'em Danno!"

    Otto could never find the book on sausage making. He didn't know the title, but it began- "It was the best of times, it was the Wurst of times."

    Terri

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  6. netchick sent me here :)

    caption:

    "oh gawd here comes donna. i hope she won't see me, i hope she won't see me ... "

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  7. Hi Carmi:

    The Old Curiosity (book)shop

    Lets try it... Put your hand on your hips and five tips to the right, five left, five right and five left...

    Pure and simple Plagarism!

    So she actually wrote it...

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  8. There are still a few dusty-musties lying around my old town, but I too wonder how long they have left.

    I know exactly what you mean about the idea of shooting strangers. I don't even much like shooting people I know like this, and as a result I wind up with a lot of my blog shots being devoid of people. Because who needs the hassle? And you're entirely right that once you've secured a release the moment is gone. You'll never be able to recreate it because it wasn't meant to be "created", just witnessed.

    For a caption... hmm...

    "Are you absolutely sure this is how it worked in You've Got Mail?"

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  9. * "In search of lost time"

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  10. "Wonder if this one is safe to eat?"

    I know that sounds weird, but I happen to be reading this right before seeing your photo & that's all I could think of! will try to come back later with other ideas

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  11. * Whoa, look at that title. What is this world coming to??

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  12. * To enter or not to enter...

    * How does one get around to finding a book from this muddle?

    * Gosh, isn't it time I tidied up this mess I call a bookshop..

    * Let me just browse the titles while the sun warms my back!

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  13. so many books, so little time

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  14. How much is that bookie in the window

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  15. Now...where did I put my book?

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  16. * Are you sure that shadow is mine? Lemme look again!


    That was quite a caption-able picture, Carmi, unlike some others you have posted earlier. A man's posture speaks a thousand words! :)

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  17. Judging a book by its cover

    Through the looking glass

    Window shopping

    Antiques

    (Thanks for the mention! I might be back with a few more :) )

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  18. "How much is that dog-eared book in the window?"

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  19. Interesting. Love the "hands-on-hips" pose.

    my caption:

    "Choosing his words carefully."

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