TTV - Abandoned Boudoir

It's been a while since my last experiments with ttv photography. Through the viewfinder photos are shot with a (digital) camera through the viewfinder of a vintage camera. The shape of the viewfinder and the dust and dirt it has collected through the years add a magical and surreal effect to these photos. Last sunday I bought a vintage conway camera (again at a car boot sale!) for just 4 £. I struggled a bit to make a contraption to keep my digital camera focused on top of the conway, so by the time I was ready it was dark outside. I then tried to shoot a pictures inside the flat and this is the creepy result. Now tell me, would you think these photos were taken in a brand new home in 2009...or rather a century ago in an abandoned boudoir filled with ghosts?

Greetings from Firenze, 1939

Car boot sale season is back! The local car boot sale is only a few minutes away, a nice walk down the high street. Before the end of last season I was hunting for useful things for the flat as it still wasn't complete : a set of boring pine wood bar stools ( which we transformed into sleek french style black laquered kitchen stools), rattan chairs for the balcony and vintage ivory silk lamp shades. Now that my home is fully furnished ( I still have my eye on a beautiful four poster bed, but that will be for later) I don't really need any useful items and I can concentrate on the fun part of car boot sale hunting...weird nick-nacks and other "decorative junk". I always loved to have a wall full of pictures frames, a collection of photos and art from different era's and styles but my wall is still quite bare. Slowly slowly it is coming together, but I need a lot more! Last Sunday I found an interesting photo of a young couple. Both in their best outfit, nice hats, beautiful smiles.

The frame in green leather, looking as old as the picture itself. For just a pound, it was hard to pass it up. At home, being curious as ever, I took it out of the frame and saw a glimpse of a different live, different time...since then this photo is fascinating me. The picture was taken in Florence in 1939. Someone wrote " Betty and Enzo. To dad, with affection."

Betty looks English, and Enzo is unmistakably Italian. My parents met in Florence in the seventies, so I can imagine their story being similar to my parents'. They walked the same streets, different cultures, different languages. 1939...right before WWII. I wonder what happened to them. Did they get married? Was it just a summer love? Did the war destroy their friendship or love story...I guess I'll never know, but Betty and Enzo are more than welcome on my photo and art wall in my inspiration room aka craftroom slash dining room.