Starting a new old journey, a photo from Devon, England

Photographer's Note

I have left the Middle East in 1995 and steered my time machine closer to home but several more years back.

In early June 1980 I made a short journey to England during a gap between studies and a new job. I wanted to combine pleasure with work, first making an interview with a writer whose books I liked and then do some sightseeing. Since he was living in a village in the southwest of the country I decided to spend the rest of the journey mainly in Cornwall, where I had not been before.

After the interview I spent a night and a few hours early next day in Exeter before catching a train to Cornwall. I saw the Gothic cathedral where I took a few not very interesting photos, which I didn't bother to scan. Outside the cathedral I saw these children and teachers on an excursion taking a break by the statue of the 16th century theologian Richard Hooker.

As you may have guessed this photo was scanned from a Kodachrome slide. Here is a larger version.

pajaran, ikeharel, ikeharel, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, jhm, COSTANTINO, Fis2, PiotrF, mcmtanyel, sacimar, maloutim, jean113, alvaraalto, adramad has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pajaran (92178) 2019-11-17 0:22

Pozdrav.
Lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad skeniranjem slajda, lepo pokazano, lepa fotografija i secanje.
Zelim vam lep dan za odmor, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Greeting.
Nice view and moment, interesting and good text ...
Good job scanning the slide, nice showing, nice photo and remembering.
Have a nice day for you, all the best.

Silvio1953 (191261) 2019-11-17 0:42

Ciao Gert, lovely composition with a lot of people under beautiful statue, excellent clarity, fine details, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Royaldevon (64334) 2019-11-17 2:51

Hello Gert,

I'm glad that you have been able to capture such a scene. These outings with primary school children were a really beneficial part of their education. They were loved by all and a really useful hands-on type of learning for the children.
Nowadays, such visits take hours and hours of meticulous planning, health and safety reports, and often prior visits by teachers. It just adds so much to the workload!
I don't think the children are too bothered by the statue, but they are loving a day out, with a picnic in a warm, unthreatening environment.
You got a very good record of this outing, the children searching their bags for sustenance and generally enjoying the outing. You show us the eclectic mix of buildings and, surprisingly, the lack of cars!
I wonder how easy it would be for a man to take photographs of children on a school trip nowadays!

Thanks for sharing this,
Bev :-)

Tue (71910) 2019-11-17 3:25

Hej Gert,
Jeg besøgte Exeter også engang og tog nogle billeder af domkirken, men heller aldrig postede dem her, mest fordi det var en grå regnvejrsdag. Dette er et smukt billede med torvet og den hvide statue i midten. Skoleklassen minder mig lidt om mig selv, når jeg tager mine elever til England engang om året. :-)
Lars

pierrefonds (93579) 2019-11-17 4:31

Hi Gert,

You have captured well the behavior of the group of children. The point of view is showing the details of the statue. The light is enhacing the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

ChrisJ (152428) 2019-11-17 5:25

Hello Gert,

An interesting shot of the school excursion. I have never heard of Richard Hooker. Then again theology and esoteric studies of philosophy have never really appealed to me. But I am sure some people find the topics riveting. Good colour and sharpness. Tfs!

jhm (191377) 2019-11-17 6:23

Hello Gert,

We get the typical colours out of the sixties and seventies.
1980, then where all children yet well behaved.
Colours and sharpness are superb.
Perfect composition and nice presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John

rychem (68021) 2019-11-17 6:51

Nice photo of the group of school children, they are tired (I guess) after an eventful day, very well captured
regards Ryszard

jmdias (91967) 2019-11-17 7:16

gert

I had time to visit this region and exeter cathedral too. nice view showing the beautiful monument surrounded by children. clothes of these children looks something old if compared today.

take care

jorge

COSTANTINO (93441) 2019-11-17 8:12

Hello dear Gert
interesting photo from an interesting
old journey in early June 198o
you are really very lucky to see
the gothic cathedral where you
took photos and outside this
cathedral you saw these children
me too I have photos like this one
taken with my first Kodakmachine
welldone
regards
Costantino

Nicou (188486) 2019-11-17 9:12

Hello

tous ces jeunes autour du socle de la statue donne une touche de couleur une animation et de la vivacité dans l’image t quelle blanc quel homme sur cette statues avec en fond toutes ces maisons et habitation excellent
Bravo et belle soirée
Nciou

Fis2 (142685) 2019-11-17 9:28

Witaj Gert!
Interesting square, nice scane from daily life.
Good framing and colors, curious statue.
Well done.
Good evening.
Krzysztof

mesutilgim (115458) 2019-11-17 10:14

Hello dear Gert,
Another topclass capture/entry from your rich archive.
Taken with perfect pov and timing. Very nice bright colors and perfect sharpness.
Many good & usefull notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

Miguel82 (35896) 2019-11-17 12:24

Gert, the teachers and the children are taking a break in a park of Exeter near a statue built in tribute to a 16th century theologian. They are sat at the base of the statue. The picture shows the local architecture as well as some passersby. Fine colors, good image quality, enthralling photo note, regards.

lousat (121037) 2019-11-17 12:31

Hi Gert,nothing special talking about the pic,but reminds me the excursions with the school,in 1980 i was 16 years old,and the colors of this film are the same of pics that i have of these wonderful years. A nice memory for you,one of your first interview i think,the start of your job at the end of your studies,lovely history. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

GyurMaster (16650) 2019-11-17 12:42

Dear Gert,

It is very interesting to follow your rides with the time machine through time and space. This time you changed your BW films to Kodachrome, maybe your camera was more advanced. Its a nice compositor with the group of children and the guy on the right. The only think I would advice is a small tone correction as it slightly leans into green. At least according to my judgment.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

PiotrF (42716) 2019-11-17 16:46

Hello Gert,
An interesting scene under the statue.
I like nice composition and good color saturation.
Good work, fine presentation.
Regards
Piotr

mcmtanyel (54589) 2019-11-17 20:27

Hello Gert,
It is always exciting to start a new journey to the past with you. I miss the 80s. 👍🏻👍🏻
Regards,
MT

ifege (20947) 2019-11-17 22:54

Hi Gert
An interesting one to start you last bit of time travel. Children all closely supervised. A good town square scene.
cheers
Ian

sacimar (36905) 2019-11-18 4:15

Hello Gert,

this is another good old photo, I like the different things we can see here, since the group of students under the white statue to the man walking and watching them... well seen,

Best regards,

Sergio

maloutim (13189) 2019-11-19 0:34

That's an interesting 1980 photo of school children in front of Richard Hooker statue in Exeter. I must confess I hardly knew anything about Richard Hooker, but your post incited me to look him up, and I enjoyed learning about his doctrine.
$Thanks for sharing and have a good week.
Marie-Louise.

kasianowak (14027) 2019-11-19 11:46

Hi Gert
That's a bit of a jump for your time machine: from the 60s Britain to the 80s in Britain via the Middle East in the 1990s. That's what's so great about photos and memories, we don't have to enjoy them in order. Who says history is linear??? :-)
Big jump also from monochrome to colour and from a few people to many people in the photo. Really nicely captured moment, great composition and timing. Also, it's also a priceless record of the old times - these days you could get arrested for photographing kids on a school outing.
Best wishes
Kasia

clic (22826) 2019-11-20 8:34

Hallo Gert Unfortunately these kids don't look very attentive to the higher education provided by the wise theologian!!
Nevertheless your picture remains quite attractive due to your mental association 'theologian-pupils' before taking the picture and to high photo rendering marked Kodachrome. Sweet souvenirs of film photography! Halsningar

jean113 (16099) 2019-11-20 9:18

Hello Gert, how different this viewpoint would look now. The next time that I am in Exeter, I will try to get a shot looking across the Cathedral Green, and share it with you.
I remember school trips with children, food was always very important, they would ask to have lunch about an hour after we had set off! And that was on a whole day out.
There is some interaction as the man walking past looks across.
The clothing is always interesting in these scenes from the past.
Thanks for sharing, kind regards, Jean.

lucasgalodoido (26140) 2019-11-20 10:02

Olá Gert,
interessante registro histórico aqui dessas crianças, hoje adultas. Boas cores e qualidade também. Belo trabalho.
Parabéns e Abraço,
Lucas

alvaraalto (38660) 2019-11-22 7:07

Hello Gert,
First, I look at how much your time machine has brought you back. The typical colours of Kodachrome slides immediately provide a clue. Here too they could be scanned very well.
I am curious which writer you interviewed then. It will not have been the scholar of this statue.
Interesting presentation,
Have a good weekend, groet Rob

adramad (62704) 2019-11-24 11:01

Hi Gert.
I am amazed at the high quality you get with old scanned photos. With the thousands that I have in slides of old trips.
Lovely group of children, who will now have children of ages that they had here.
Impressive is great size and quality of the great sculpture.
Very good color that highlights the image.
Magnificent management of brightness and sharpness, to enjoy with the details.
Well done I love the picture.
Have a good start to the week.
Very best regards.
Luis.

emka (139218) 2019-11-26 23:02

Hello Gert,
I wanted to ask the same as Rob, so I know the answer. It must have been a nice experience to interview the writer whom you like. Can this interview be seen anywhere?
Nice scene with the group of children on the school excursion. I have seen many similar scenes in museums. Interesting monument.

KInd regrads MAlgo