Friday, September 24, 2010

in the looking glass...


i wrote once about mirrors. and about the version of ourselves we might leave behind in them.  in a room of old mirrors like this one, i was struck again by that thought. there was some magic in that faded, decaying but once grand room. and somehow it felt like you could catch a glimpse of its former glory if you looked just right into the mirrors.


so i took a lot of photos of the mirrors. hoping to capture that moment. that glimpse of the gateway to memories not my own. so present in the air, yet so inaccessible. palpable yet elusive. the air was heavy with magic in that place. it felt so empty and abandoned, but full. i had the feeling we had to whisper and the feeling that there was whispering all around me...silks rustling, voices, music..there but also just out of earshot. it was there somehow, to be glimpsed in the mirrors if you caught the right angle.


so i looked for the angle. at the light. at the puddles of black where the silvery backing is falling away. and i listened. and i imagined i could glimpse all who floated past those mirrors over the decades. and it felt like touching magic.

16 comments:

The Queens Table said...

Beautifully haunting photographs.

Elizabeth said...

And I'll see beautiful windows.

Joanna Jenkins said...

These make me think the ghosts were hiding for you just out of sight. The pics are gorgeous.
Hope you have a great weekend. jj

Lisa at lil fish studios said...

I just love the way you see.

stephanie said...

I could get lost in those photos quite easily. So dreamy.

Deb said...

You did touch magic! I saw it! Love old mirrors and their memories.

Kristina said...

Just...wow! You did it in that last shot...that glance at a lost time. Just magical.

kristina - no penny for them said...

your photos are so beautiful and really get across how special that place was.

and, same as you, i wonder how come that we all took such different images of that very same room. i wonder what pictures the leica-man took?

poet said...

These are beautiful. Where is this place?

Cheers,
poet

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Love these photos... where is it? You have such an eye.

Barb said...

Wow. I love the photos. And I love those old places where you feel you have to whisper. Your words are beautiful. I felt like I was there.

mrs mediocrity said...

these photos are pure magic. i love how you described this place, i could hear the whispers, too.

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

beautiful and a little unsettling...love the misty look, the blue of the ether...

Char said...

wow wow wow - love those mirrors - i want one for my house

Unknown said...

Fantastiska bilder!

Lynnae said...

Oooh, I love this post. What a fascinating old room. It looks gorgeous.