A Change In Scenery

17 September 2013

postcards, part 1

I've been collecting postcards nearly my entire life. I had family all over the country, and my parents and I traveled quite a bit when I was young. Postcards were (and still are) an inexpensive souvenir from a visit to somewhere new, and convenient for a quick "hello". Since I was a kid I've loved sending postcards to friends, and am excited when I get them in return.

What began as correspondence between myself and friends + family turned into a enthusiasm for interesting or rare graphics, correspondence between people I've never met, images of places I know from another era, and an overall love of the art of the postcard. A few months ago I conquered the daunting task of organizing my collection. My postcards are now in archival sleeves, labeled when necessary, and easy to access. I'm looking forward to sharing them here, beginning with this iconic block lettering theme.

front of postcard

back of postcard, with reference guide

front of postcard

back of postcard

30 August 2013

Orange Empire Railway Museum

If I ever go missing, it will be because I ran away to live on the grounds of Perris, California's Orange Empire Railway Museum.

The OERM is a magical place with an extraordinary history. I couldn't even begin to describe in detail the impressive work the volunteer-run museum does, so I'll leave my contribution to the photographs (please click on captions, as I've added links where applicable).

If visiting the OERM in person isn't possible, please visit the museum's highly informative, wonderfully detailed website.

The recently restored PCC Streetcar #3100

Los Angeles Railway type-H streetcar, #1201

The #1201 from the front

My sweetie takes train photographs, too

The Grizzly Flats barn, taken from a moving train with my 1950s bakelite Imperial camera

The imagineers at Disney visited Orange Empire when designing Buena Vista Street
and used the red trolley cars (like #665 here) as reference to create their own scale versions,
even using the same trolley numbers as the ones at the museum.

The replica red trolley cars on Buena Vista Street at Disney California's Adventure (above)
represent the era during which Walt Disney arrived in California with only "a suitcase and a dream".

1467 and its iconic Amtrak stripe

Riding across the country by train, sorting mail for delivery?
My dream job.... think of all of the postcards I'd have seen!

Sitting inside the 525

1936 Union Pacific box car

Rusty gold

Double decker Irish tram

Seeing the active cars of the day pulling into their barns at closing time is one of my favorite parts of the visit.

(all photographs © Monika Seitz Vega, 2013)

27 August 2013

A visit to the Getty Center

Last month, my sweetie and I braved the notoriously nasty I-405 in Brentwood to visit the Getty Center. In Focus: Ed Ruscha was the inspiration for the trip and it didn't disappoint. Photographers love the architecture of the Getty and flock to it, so it seemed necessary for me to take along a couple cameras of my own.

Getty Center, Los Angeles © Monika Seitz Vega, 2013

Charles Ray, "Boy With Frog" © Monika Seitz Vega, 2013

Edvard Munch, "Starry Night" © Monika Seitz Vega, 2013

I was quite happy to stumble upon a painting of Edvard Munch's in the museum's collection. It was a work of his that I was not familiar with previously, which made it that much more exciting.

I couldn't leave without adding a couple of postcards to my collection. The first is of a wonderful panoramic film photograph of the Center taken by John C. Lewis in 2000. The second is a painting by Belgian artist Fernand Knopff entitled "Jeanne Kefer, 1885", which was my absolute favorite piece of art in the museum.

John C. Lewis, "The Central Garden at the Getty Center, 2000"

Fernand Khnopff, "Jeanne Kefer, 1885"

I purchased a couple postcards for friends as well and wrote them from the museum cafe's seating area that overlooks the gardens. Sending postcards to friends is something I try to do whenever I have the opportunity to visit somewhere special, and I cherish the ones I receive myself.

09 August 2013

Happy 44th birthday, Haunted Mansion

My all time favorite ride at Disneyland, the Haunted Mansion, opened on this day in 1969. What better time than now to listen to the complete ride soundtrack, foolish mortals?

27 June 2013

celebrating Emma Goldman's 144th birthday

Today is the 144th birthday of Emma Goldman. I'd like to link my photos and story from this time last year which includes my experiences the two times I had the opportunity to visit her and others at Chicago's Forest Home Cemetery.

Please click here for the entry "Revisiting Chicago's Forest Home Cemetery".