Photographic Tale of the Week - The Head Waiter

The Head Waiter by Linda Sue Kocsis

Just look at The Head Waiter by Linda Sue Kocsis and you will not be surprised that Linda's works of art could be considered some of the most lively and fun contributions that run through the Pictures with a Story group. Just like a couple of the other photographers who regularly share with the group, I could have chosen really any of Linda's works to be featured and they would have been just as strong. I very much look forward to seeing more snapshots from Linda's incredibly creative mind, and I highly encourage you to check out the rest of her work in her Flickr photostream. Here is what Linda Sue had to say about The Head Waiter:

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who'll decide where to go." ― Dr. Seuss
Photography Challenge: Victorian-Style Headless Portrait
This was another self-assignment that I did as an accompaniment to my recent long-haired Victorian self-portrait.
It's a tribute to those great old headless portraits popular in Victorian studio photography: www.google.com/search?q=headless+portrait+victorian&b....

My husband (who kindly modeled for me) really lost his head over this one!

©2016 Linda Sue Kocsis

Here is how you can find Linda Sue online.
Studio Candelabra

Browse through the Essex Masque blog (you're on it!) for other Photographic Tales of the Week, as well as other randoms that I post. You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, and my photography on Flickr. 
Please note that, as ever, do not use the images of the featured photographers without their express permission. I always contact them first.

Photographic Tale of the Week - "March 2015"

"March 2015" by Nick and Karen Munroe

The part of me that didn't have to drive for half an hour to work very much missed the snow over the holiday season. Having four kids, three of them very much aware that the clatter of reindeer hooves should also be mixed with the crunch of snow, Christmas just didn't feel the same without the white powdery (or even granular, or slushy) stuff as background. Maybe that is why I gravitated towards Nick and Karen Munroe's "March 2015" shot of a very dreary - and snowy - landscape for this week's (and a half at this point) Photographic Tale of the Week, from the Pictures with a Story Flickr group. 

Maybe it is just the aspect of my personality that finds beauty in the foggier, greyer, and oppressive aspects of life, but this shot is truly a beautiful one. It is all the more familiar since Brampton is a brief 368 km jaunt away from where I live - yes, I am Canadian and tend to think that these distances are short. 

So while I do not want to contribute to anyone's Seasonal Affective Disorder, I do encourage you to enjoy this wonderful shot and read what Nick and Karen have to say about it:

The dreaded winter cold has found me and sapped all my energy, housebound and unable to go exploring I find myself reflecting back on the year that was 2015; going through my photos files from last year. I have pulled a few of what I consider to be hidden gems... as I like to call "found on second sight."
 This photo is from March of 2015. it was taken at Brampton's Heart Lake Conservation area: which was covered in a thick blanket of dense fog. The line between earth and sky was so obscured as not to be visible. Karen and I wandered through the mist as the park around us faded into a surreal place of white fog and dull grey shadows.

Find the rest of Munroe Designs Photography work at the following sites:
Flickr
Facebook

Browse through the Essex Masque blog (you're on it!) for other Photographic Tales of the Week, as well as other randoms that I post. You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, and my photography on Flickr. 
Please note that, as ever, do not use the images of the featured photographers without their express permission. I always contact them first!

Photographic Tale of the Week - "Naked Wrist"

"Naked Wrist" by Blue Funambulist

First, I feel a bit guilty for not getting this up earlier. One of the inevitable repercussions of waiting for a while after announcing privately to the featured photographer / storyteller is that the photo itself is no longer an option for the Picture With a Story cover photo. Blue Funambulist's "Naked Wrist" would have been perfect for this. So without any further rambling from me, here is the story behind this most excellent work of art (in more ways than one as you will read):

It was supposed to feel like liberation, but actually it hurts. After more than eight years wearing handmade braids on my right wrist they finally got off. Two cuts, no blood. My tendency for keeping memories alive and the fixation for giving extra-sensorial meanings to certain self-made things has made this more difficult, for sure. However, the bigger problem comes when they exhaust their possibilities. One, was not as certain, felt and concrete as it should be. And the other, which always was the one, was not beating anymore. The sense was lost, and I needed to show myself clearly and physically than these things can happen in Life. However, in this slightly thinner wrist, now there is a completely white skin portion. Full of absence.

Somewhere in the Baltic Sea.

Blue Funambulist is a Spanish photographer whose "feelings and thoughts through art is the best thing that I have to share with the world."
Follow this link for Blue Funambulist's Flickr and Facebook pages.
Check out more Essex Masque stuff on this blog and the following links:
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#52weeksofWE - 52 of 52, Beginnings

See what I did there? You thought I was going to end on a down note.
Feel free to interpret this in any way you want.
Thank you very much for spending the year in the digital #52weeksofWE gallery with me. While I did not necessarily take a shot every week, I am very happy to have been able to host others. I think we have done a very good job of capturing some of the beauty of Windsor - Essex, and I hope you had fun doing it.
At this point, because I am behind in lots of other things - and starting some new - I am not going to continue into 2016. Feel free to keep posting to the group, but there are several other groups that are Windsor - Essex based and open, so I won't be insulted if you don't. Also, if you have any suggestions for continuing on some sort of challenge that doesn't involve me having to post 52 weeks of themes on my own, I am open to suggestions as well.
Finally, some have suggested a meet up at some point. It was actually suggested during the fall, but my new baby stole the show during that time of the year. However, if people are interested feel free to comment on this photo, send me a message through Flickr, or send an email to essex.masqueATgmailDOTcom and I will try to coordinate something.
Thank you very much again. Hope you had fun. And who knows, I may start it up again in the future. 
All the best,
Patrick 
 Submit your photos on Flickr or Facebook, and send the picture files to me if you want them to be featured on my weekly reflections: essex.masqueATgmailDOTcom

#52weeksofWE - 51 of 52, Terminus ...

Not expecting such a downer during the week that contains December 25th? Have you never experienced the Ghost of Christmas Future? 
Honestly, though, in spite of the picture I have selected for this week's theme - not to mention the theme itself - this doesn't need to be a negative experience. The terminus is merely the end of something: a line; an appendage; a road ... It can also be where things end together, like an "all roads lead to Rome" idea. Have fun, and Happy Holidays! 
 Submit your photos on Flickr or Facebook, and send the picture files to me if you want them to be featured on my weekly reflections: essex.masqueATgmailDOTcom

Photographic Tale of the Week - "It was a light ..."

"It was a light ..." by Bogdan Udrea

I will often blab on about something to do with having a cold, or a baby, to introduce the Photographic Tale of the Week, but I'm not going to do that this time. Bogdan has been displaying his works on the virtual walls of Pictures with a Story almost since the beginning, and I really could feature every one of his compositions on a weekly basis. It just so happens that I finally selected this photo for this week, and I am happy I finally did it. I very, very much encourage you to follow the links to his photography and see the rest of his pairings of beautiful images with the text that "reflect my inner feelings, my struggles, adapted in a cinematic way." They seem to me like cinematic stills, capturing powerful details of what it means to be a person in this world.
Underneath the picture in Flickr you read:



"It was a light that could barely be seen and hoped for it to turn into a curtain of sparkling fireflies. They say that comes with time."



When I asked Bogdan if I could feature him, he further elaborated on his compositions:

I am trying to put in words what the actual scene means to me, meant to me at a point, or what thoughts I have looking at it ( some of them remind me of popular scenes from movies - the words are quotes)

 Bogdan is 24 at the time of this post and is an engineer. I don't think it will be any surprise that he lists off movies, photography, psychology, and dark tones as his passions.
Again, I highly recommend that you find the rest of his work at the following sites.

Flickr
"Various" Blogspot

Don't forget to go through other featured photographers on this blog, and Like / Follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

#52weeksofWE - 50 of 52, Christmas in Mid-December

Were you expecting some sort of Holiday theme on week 51? Surprised you!
With the balmy weather and cold December rain, here is the opportunity to really get your pre-celebration on for Christmas, and all the holidays that conglomerate around this time of year. 
Now, you ask, what will be the themes for the last two weeks? The suspense is building ...
 Submit your photos on Flickr or Facebook, and send the picture files to me if you want them to be featured on my weekly reflections: essex.masqueATgmailDOTcom