Gadget has stopped working

Hmmm my Flickr gadget has stopped working and I have had to replce it with a link instead.
Something about an API key has expired !! Shame because I liked that.

Oh no ! I'm Becoming a Nostaglia Geek !

It's true I'm afraid and I don't know how to pull back from the abyss !
I am now obsessed with old photographs and early photographers like William Hayes that I mentioned in my last post. I have the book now by the way and what an interesting read it is. Loads of great pictures as well.
I am even looking at my own collection in a different way. I am starting to make up stories in head about why a certain photograph was taken.
Take my profile picture for example. Here is the full version below-



I have it in my head that these two children are orphans who's parents were killed in tragic accident and the authorities have made them have their photograph taken to advertise them to prospective adopting couples.
The little girl is so frightened that she is going to be separated from her brother but he has no intention of letting that happen. And so on.........
I am even getting choked up thinking about it....is there any hope for me ?

That's the trouble when you find a card like this with no information about who these children are. You're imagination goes into overdrive. Well, mine does anyway.

William Hayes - The Photographer Who Took The Photo Of The little Girl and Her Doll

Since uploading the image of the little girl and her doll as shown in my last post my Flickr friend Sarah has identified the photograher as William Hayes of York. The only clue on the card was a tiny signature in the bottom right corner but we are now sure this is him.

I have taken the information below from the Imagine York website where there are some beautiful pictures of York in bygone days and also some photographs of William Hayes, some of which I have cheekily posted in this blog.

Hayes was born in Newbiggin in the city in 1871. He was interested in art from an early age and attended the York School of Art. Initially his interest in photography was as an amateur but he later channelled his considerable ability into creating a business as a full time professional photographer.

He undertook both studio and outside work and was employed many times by Rowntrees. His street scenes are particularly evocative.

He married Margaret Harland in 1904 and, after concerns for his wife's health, they moved to Hutton-Le-Hole in 1911 - two years after the birth of their son.

Hayes continued to be an active photographer, walking and cycling many miles to fulfil his varied commissions.

Hayes died in October 1940. His studio can still be visited at the Ryedale Folk Museum in Hutton Le Hole.

This of course does not help identify the little girl in the picture but for me the photographer has become more interesting than his subject.

His studio was a corregated iron building at the bottom of his garden at 76 Monkgate, York. There was a huge gasworks and incinerater chimney overlooking his garden and it was for this reason that he eventually moved for the sake of his wife's health.
His house in Monkgate is still there and I have put an interactive Streetview picture below. His house was the one with the red door. There is now an industrial site and a huge Sainsburys super store where the gasworks once stood.

View Larger Map

The image below shows William Hayes and his new wife on their wedding day outside of his studio.

This next image shows the wedding breakfast actually in his studio.

This final image shows his wife by the studio looking up at the huge chimney and gas works

If you go to the Imagine York website and type in Monkgate in the photo search box you will get a large selection of photos of the roard and area where William Hayes lived. Some are taken by him.

I have discovered the following book - William Hayes 1871-1940 : York photographic artist by Terry Buchanan 1986 and have managed to get a copy from Amazon and if you click the link it will take you to these books.

I am really pleased that with such little information to go on we have discovered so much about this talented photograher.

The card that I just had to have !

bc161, a photo by Forgotten Faces on Flickr.

This is the card that I won after a bidding battle on ebay. I paid a lot more than I normally would for a single card but it was well worth it. Since posting on Flickr one of my contacts has researched the photographer and there is a lot of information there with links etc.

Just a few thoughts

I was looking through my Flickr collection of "people" postcards today and it made me wonder if it was right to see these being sold at postcard fairs and on the internet. They were, after all, real people who may still have families around today and should I really be displaying them for all to see on Flickr ?

From my point of view I don't feel bad about it as I don't make any financial gain from doing so. In fact, its me that pays for these cards and by the time I pay for my premium Flickr account every year I must have spent several hundreds of pounds since starting this project.

I don't have to do it of course but it gives me a lot of satisfaction to see people talking about these forgotten faces again after probably spending many years shut away in postcard dealers boxes and I have always said that if anyone identifies a family member on my site I would always be happy to send them the original photo without charge.

So, all you postcard dealers out there, if you want to give me a nice discount I will not say no !