Uncle Dave Hartsell
Uncle Dave looks a little…anxious, no?
Undated vintage studio photograph. No studio name on the matte. Moderately restored.
On the back is written in cursive, with what appears to be a ballpoint pen, “Uncle Dave Hartsell”. Also on the back, also in cursive, in very light pencil, “Mrs. Mary Hartsell”.
From another studio photo, I saw that the “frame” on the matte was also used by “Cargille Johnson City Tenn.”. Still no date range.
Before and After
I was in Abingdon at a flea market. Rummaging through some old cards and stuff, I came across a picture of a solemn young lady. It was in a 3×4 inch art studio cardboard matte with “?Vamey’s? Art Studio, Bristol Tenn.” embossed on it. The photo had been pretty badly handled; scuffed, stained. Her hands were pretty much obliterated, so I scanned it at 600 dpi and then cropped it down to an h&s before I retouched it. It took several hours over several days to get the result above.
When I was a kid, all of our furniture and nearly all of our family photos were stolen (I think I learned the phrase “those sorry sons of bitches” around that time). I’ll never see them again. I’ll also probably never know who this young lady was, but I have been able to bring her photograph back to some of its original form. Photoshop rules.
Snow Barn
It wasn’t snowing, but it had earlier that morning and as the air turned a little warmer, a fog formed. Hey, snow, barn, trees, fog. Cut! Print!
Bronze Maneki-neko
I did not realize, when this was given to me, that it was a type of maneki-neko, or “beckoning cat”. The denotation is of a cat washing its face (in itself a symbol of an imminent visit, in Japanese lore), but the connotation is of a cat making a welcoming gesture to either luck, money or friends. Depends on which paw is raised, whose received knowledge is at work and other cultural knick knacks. The story is here, but it neglects the whole story of Tami cat.
There’s no marking on this. It’s probably bronze or some similar casting and rather crude.
And it sits right by me as I work at this computer.
Dad’s Old Place
Back in ’55 or so, this was a Pure service station. Two pumps. My stepdad, in the process of learning that business was something he wasn’t particularly good at, rented it. It’s in Sneedville TN. He lasted maybe six months. Later, he became good at closing small grocery stores.
Two Flamingos
On, all right, they’re between the two large trees on the left, just above the greenery. Touch of class, those.
This is in Lee County VA, a step or two off the main road.
Nolichucky Trestle
Active pony plate trestle over the Nolichucky River in Unicoi County. The decolorized photo has an infra-red effect added. Original image shot with an Olympus XZ-1, f2 at 1/500. ISO 400 equivalent.
Why is it pronounced “tressle” instead of “trest-le”. Well, like “pestle”, “hustle”, “wrestle” and many others, it just is. Received pronunciation, apparently.
Once a theater
This is looking through what once was a theater in a company-build recreation center in Leatherwood KY. Here’s what it looked like when it was fairly new. (For the picture I shot, I was on the other side of the building) Note the cut stone that made up the exterior of this large building. The story is that the railroad welcomed Italian stonemasons to help build the many bridges and support structures as the lines extended. These masons were also responsible for many coal company buildings, notably in Lynch and Whitesburg KY.
Uncle Bob's Pix 
