I think you can only be nostalgic for something you’ve lost.~Jim Jarmusch
This week, Tina is focusing on nostalgia–a great theme for this time of the year when we are flooded with reminders of holidays past and time spent with family and friends in celebration.
Nostalgia can heighten our pleasure in the present moment. This happens when we take actual trips down “memory lane” by revisiting places which we knew and loved in the past. Our pleasure is doubled and tripled as we return to these place, while thinking back on our experiences in the past.
During our stay in London in October, we learned about the nostalgia that the British feel for their countryside and small towns. To understand this, we took several trips throughout the U.K.
Oxford
One place beloved by the British is Oxford, famous not only for its university, but also in popular culture. Dozens of books and movies have been set in this town–like Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. If you haven’t seen the PBS mini-series based on this novel, I highly recommend taking the time to see it.
We spent an afternoon wandering around this charming town, visiting the university campus and stopping for tea at a local shop. Here you can see the famous Radcliffe Camera, on the Oxford campus, which has existed on this site for over 800 years, making it one of the oldest universities in the world. I loved the juxtaposition of the historic building and the modern bicycles on campus.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fpfcgwvc7nv2avi/Observatory%20at%20Oxford%20copy.jpg?dl=0
The city, which showcases a variety of architecture, is beautifully preserved. Even the doors were magnificent!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1t3pc583dw860b7/Door%20Latch%20Oxford%20copy.jpg?dl=0
The Cotswolds
Nature inspires me because it’s so peaceful. It makes me have an inward experience. It makes me reflective and nostalgic.~Brett Dennen
On the same day, we visited the Cotswolds, known as one of the prettiest areas in England, which covers 787 square miles (2,040 km2). It is the second largest protected landscape in England. Here you can see the charm of a country lane and thatched cottages.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6fckqobk4p7sop2/Cotswold%27s%20Nostalgia%20copy.jpg?dl=0
Hampstead Heath
On another day, we explored Hampstead Heath in London with a wonderful new British friend. As we walked, she told us stories about the dogs, which she walked here over the years, and shared her memories of coming here as a child.
This ancient heath extends over 790 acres, and has wooded trails and a series of ponds, open for swimming. As you can see, dogs and their companions love to come here and enjoy long walks or quiet moments together.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6v3055ggpzijerv/Man%20and%20His%20Dog%20copy%202.jpg?dl=0
In this open stretch of rolling hills, you can see several people walking–if you look closely. I love the changing leaves and the undulating landscape.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q02n8ubenfhxhyn/Nostalgic%20Walk%20copy%202.jpg?dl=0
Now, that we’ve taken this nostalgic trip through the UK, I’ll end this post with a cautionary note about another type of nostalgia, which is misleading and dangerous. It is used by populist leaders who try to invoke the “good old days” of nationalistic pride, when life was supposedly simpler and less complicated. This is a dangerous illusion. History tells us that these leaders use nostalgia as a way of manipulating our emotions to achieve their own ends. This is their primary goal.
I also want to thank you all who participated in my “Abstract” challenge last week. Your responses were fabulous and truly inspired me to continue exploring abstract photography. Thank you!
Tina, Amy, Ann-Christine and I hope you join us for this week’s “Nostalgic” challenge. If you join us, include a link to Tina’s post. (Links from the Reader are not working correctly.) Use the Lens-Artists tag to help us find you. For instructions on how to join us, click here.
Next week, it’s Amy turn to host LAPC Challenge #76.
PLEASE NOTE we will not be publishing our challenge the week of December 21 to 27.
As always, Amy, Tina, Ann-Christine, and I thank you for your continued support of our photo challenge. Have an inspiring week!
Categories: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Photography
Dear Patti All the three places are wonderful, peaceful captivating and deeply engrossing .Nothing like a walk in such majestic natural surroundings and so true about ‘revisiting places’ once lived in’…’going down memory lane’..
Thank you very much, Anjum!
Lovely bits of nostalgia…a word of caution on revisiting places – you can end up being very disappointed…. I still have to find my nostalgias for this theme!
A great point, Sue. Nostalgia can be disappointing, too! And thanks for your thoughts on the photos. I am sure your search for “nostalgia” will turn up great photos!
Thanks, Patti!
Sue – didn’t you once say memories or going back are/was like visiting a foreign country??
Interesting idea, PH. It’s true. Everything changes–including us!
😊
Oh, I might have quoted LP Hartley “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
yes!! think that was it…. thanks for remembering
Oh, I quote it now and again!
🙂
A gorgeous post Patti. Have been to the UK many times but never the Cotswolds so I especially loved that image. Terrific take on the challenge. I liked your well-thought caution at the end as well
Hi, Tina. Thank you! I thought the Cotswolds deserve their reputation. They would be even more beautiful at the peak of the summer. Another trip to schedule!
Beautiful images that take me back to another time, visiting with cousins in England.
How nice to have family to visit in that part of the world! Our cousins live in London, but their recommendation spurred us to visit the countryside. Thanks for visiting, VJ!
Most welcome!
A very beautiful nostalgic photos and stories. These places have magnificent history. We visited Oxford three years ago.
Thank you for the wise cautionary note; it is a dangerous illusion that they use. Love this post, Patti!
BTW, I found the Brideshead Revisited movie on Amazon Prime for free. 🙂 Thank you!
Hi, Amy. Many thanks! Oh, that’s a great tip! I can watch the series again on Amazon Prime! I loved it years ago. I hope you do, too. Jeremy Irons was fabulous.
Beautiful images, and a well stated caution.
Thank you so much, Michael. I appreciate your thoughts and impressions! Nostalgia can be very seductive and dangerous!
Can be. Leads to living in the past.
Superb contribution Patti, Oxford and 800 years of history, definitely nostalgic place for huge number of people there and around the world. Like the first shot with the bikes lined up!
Hi, Raj. Many, many thanks! That makes me smile. 🙂 I loved the juxtaposition of the modern and the medieval. 🙂
I stayed in Buckinghamshire for 2 years as an au-pair, and Oxford was a place I liked to visit during the weekend.
Beautiful photos. I like the first one especially which could be a postcard it is so perfect!
What a marvelous part of the country to live/work! Thanks for your kind words about the shots!
How many kinds of sunlight can you be nostalgic about? Many, if I judge by your lovely photos. Thank you also for the final cautionary remark.
Hi, IJ. That’s true! I love that! I’m glad you liked my “cautionary note.” It worries me that people can accept candidates’ positions without digging deeper into them. Emotionally-based appeals can mask a variety of evils!! Thanks so much for your thoughts, IJ.
Good warning …. manipulation is so dangerous
And I will check out the mini dries. I like BBC shows and that one sounds good….
I really enjoyed the series many years ago. I definitely want to see it again. I hope you like it! And thanks too for the moral support on the nostalgia warning!!
Keep you posted if I do get a chance to watch it
What fabulous nostalgic trips! I would love to say I had taken any one of these. Your photos are lovely as well, mainly because I adore old houses with weathered doors and hardware! Thanks for a lovely post.
You’re very welcome! I’m delighted that you like these shots. I waited a long time to go to those places. They lived up to their reputations! I was absolutely enchanted with the Heath. Dogs, sunshine, beautiful scenery…what more could I want??
Such nostalgia in every photograph, Patti.
I especially love the Hamstead Heath. It looks very peaceful.
I would enjoy a walk or two myself.
Isadora 😎
I hope you have the chance to go, Isadora. I loved the Heath and can’t wait until we can go back. All the dogs were an added bonus! Thank you too for your kind words about the photos!
It would be fabulous to visit there. I’ll add it to my Bucket List. It seems to be getting longer every year. Perhaps, 2020 will be the year to mark some off. Thanks, Patti. : )
Beautiful photos of places I’ve always read about. Having never been there, these places don’t feel nostalgic to me. However after reading countless novels set in merry old England, it’s wonderful to see them (in pixels 😉
Hi, Sandy. I totally agree about reading about these places in novels. It was wonderful to go there and keep the memories in pixels! Thanks for your kind words, too.
First of all, Patti, apologies for not making it last week. The images were in my head but never made it to camera. 🙁 We seem to be walking more than ever so I shall blame that 🙂 In my years in London I never did make it up to Hampstead Heath either. No dog to walk! I know- the excuses get weaker. 🙂 But I love your image of the Radcliffe Camera, and the colours are so rich in that first of the Heath.
Hi, Jo. There’s no need to apologize. Life can get in the way of our best intentions! I loved the Heath. I hope you go there when you’re back in London. Oxford was so full of history. I loved it, too. I hope all’s well, Jo. Enjoy all those long walks!
I visited the Cotswolds once – I absolutely loved it. Very beautiful pictures.
Thank you so much, MB! I’m delighted you stopped by and shared your thoughts. 🙂 🙂 I can see why you loved it.
Images that conjure your memories and nostalgic moments: each lovely and work well with the theme.
Thank you so much, Sally. It’s always wonderful to hear from you!
Love the Cotswolds. Jim Jarmusch?! Where did you dig up that one? I saw Mystery Train decades ago, while working in England I think. I remember my coworker and friend Richard Schiotling recommended it. Quirky, of course. It’s Jarmusch. I saw Evita at the Apollo Theater in Oxford, now called the New Theater, Wiki tells me. Nostalgia, old memories, that’s what they are. I presume your warning of the old days is RE: Brexit. No man is an island anymore. Not even England. Best wishes.
Hi, John. I don’t know Jarmusch. Now you’ve got me curious. His quote just “fit” my thoughts! I’m thinking of nostalgia being used for political ends in the countries where populist leaders are “rising” or in power (e.g. Make America Great Again).
I’m proudly, politically unaffiliated, as in recent years I don’t feel like any political parties represent me, but there definitely has been a hard shift ‘right’ in America and many European countries. I hope we don’t have a reactionary hard shift to the far left as a result, but whatever it takes to get in the vicinity of the middle, we must strive for, I trust.
A beautiful sequence Patti, I especially love the images of Oxford and Hampstead Heath where I’ve walked and stopped for a picnic many a time 🙂💖 xxx
It’s wonderful to have been to those places many times. I am savoring the memories! Thanks, Xenia.
that last one especially is absolutely stunning. Love nostalgia!
Thank you so much, Cybele! I’m delighted that it “spoke” to you.
Three lovely places that fit so well with the theme— though I agree with Sue about revisiting. I have a particular soft spot for the heath, having briefly lived in nearby Golders Green. Oxford I never really warmed to; probably because I lived in Cambridge for a while and have wonderful memories of that.
Hi, Su. We didn’t get to Cambridge. Another trip! I can understand your loyalty. It’s so interesting how people get so passionate about their favorite places!! I guess I’m that way about New York City!
What beautiful photographs Patti. The Oxford and Cotswold pics I especially love. Like a travel brochure, they’re so inviting.
Hi, Wendy. Thank you very much! They were wonderful places to visit. But, there are more to see when we return!
Patti – yet again, I’m in awe of your composition in your photos. You’re so talented, I’m always inspired by what you share. Thank you for taking us on your three walks. I can see why you’d remember each place fondly!
Well, Shelley. Your comment definitely has me smiling!! I’m thrilled to hear that. I am always grateful for the feedback and support of our creative community, which helps us grow as creative people. I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season!
Yay, I’m so happy to hear my comment brought a smile to your face. I’m with you – feedback that helps us grow is a wonderful gift! Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Magnificent images! Thank you for this virtual tour – amazing moments in time. I also agree with you about the manipulative way “nostalgia” can be orchestrated by those in power. Thank you, also, for mentioning that. It is important to remember.
I loved this trip down memory land 🙂
“lane” not land, sorry!
Thank you, Amy!!
🙂
What beautiful photo’s!
Thank you so much, Lisa!! I’m so glad you stopped by.
Your photos are amazing!