Friday, January 23, 2015

Watersheds


There it stands.   Strikingly beautiful or impressive it is.  Some consider it the most spectacular isolated mountain in the world all 14,691 feet (4,478 meters).  Part of the Alps' (which serve as the European watershed) it stands proudly.   In 1946 my Dad took this picture.  The Matterhord it is called.   As part of the Army of Occupation, he was given the keys to a dark room where he spent time developing his own pictures.   The keys were to be passed on to another when his own time was completed.   Such is the picture above. 


 Here he stands most likely on the same day he took the picture of the Matterhorn.  A camera case hangs from his right shoulder.  A snow ball in his left hand. [He is left-handed]  A watershed of his own I imagine.  After this time as one in the Army of Occupation what will life hold for me?  Do I throw this snowball, or do I just let it melt in my hand?   Hum...questions of life are often watersheds.  In 1946, the world had just finished its own watershed.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Untouched

Pictures from my Dad's collection contained many from his experiences in Germany following WWII.  The following picture has written on the back:  "Inside of the Red Cross at Stuttgart.  A large Opera House at one time - about the only building untouched in Stuttgart."


Untouched after the War in Germany.  A opera house it is.  The Red Cross was using this building to work from in 1946.  "Die Staatstheater" (the opera house) in downtown Stuttgart as it is called today.  A famous historical building as it stands in the middle of town.

A second picture was taken this day in 1946 which has been shown in a previous post.  "Angle of Peace" it is called by my Dad as written on the back.

After some internet searching, I found that the statue stands in front of the Opera House (Die Staatstheater).  The tree line as been removed, but it clearly is the same statue.  It must have been that my Dad took these pictures at the same visit to this untouched building.


The hand writing on the back of each picture is shown above.  Untouched from the time they were placed in the box of pictures.