What do you do when you have a cooler morning and you can think of no destination to take your camera? It needs to be a close destination, because the coolness will quickly turn to extreme heat. Well, I just got in the car and started driving. I thought of one place as I headed west that might work, but upon arrival I changed my mind. Knee high weeds and a man working on a lawnmower didn't seem promising for peace and quiet. Now what? Intuition kicked in and I drove to the small town center surrounding the county courthouse. I've been there many times. I've posted about it here; the small downtown area of Benton, Arkansas. I try to keep my priorities straight and you can't take great pictures on an empty stomach, so I stopped by McDonald's for a chicken and biscuit sandwich and headed to a small park where I sat, listened to the quiet waterfall, and thought about what to do. What was there for me today in this small town? I remembered a recent post by my good friend Kelly who went searching for the letters of the alphabet in shapes around her neighborhood. Her finds were fascinating. I changed it up a little and looked for the compete alphabet in the signage around town. A couple of letters weren't so easy to find. I did it though I found every letter.
A lot of thought goes into signs. They communicate a message about a business, a product, or a road. Signs are our way of passing along information. I found signs embedded in concrete. One near a memorial and the other in the sidewalk. There are several quotes in the sidewalks around the county courthouse.
I saw signs I've never see before. Walking completely around the downtown blocks and alleys put me on streets I've never traveled or I traveled to fast to look at the signs.
I saw signs that have been there so long they're almost hidden.
There were old faded signs.
Metal signs, vintage signs, hand-lettered signs, and even a sign that was signed.
A sign with missing letters.
On many of the signs I saw ampersands. Ampersands seem to be quite popular right now in home decor. I'm not sure why. I'm always behind when it comes to what's new, cool and in!!
It was really quite fun looking at the different signs, their fonts, and typeface. It was a new look at an old city and it led to three different encounters with the kind people of Benton. You know how I love vintage things. Well, these people showed me places that delighted me. I'll be back with the next chapter in this saga.
Hope you have a very nice weekend!
Wow, such fun. I always learn a lot when I read your blogs. Can't wait until you post again. I like how you put all the letters in one photo, so we could see all the different fonts.
ReplyDeleteWell, you certainly found all the letters of the alphabet. I loved all the signs. especially of the ones of the galloping horses coming out behind a green bush! That quotation by Roosevelt is so good !
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting to find old faded signs. Some of them are even from many years ago when the sign art was still different. You've got pretty good ones. There us by the way a link up "signs,signs" where you can find posts about funny, interesting, strange or simply different signs.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great scavenger hunt and a great adventure, glad to see you got out and about :)
ReplyDeleteNow that was quite a scavenger hunt! I'm with you on the chicken biscuit before all the snapping begins. LOL! Have a super weekend!
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun exercise and so glad you have your priorities straight with the stop at McDonalds. Your finds are awesome, really cool exercise Cathy from one fun photographer.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post--I love the alphabet collage :) Had to laugh at getting your priorities right and starting your day with a chicken & biscuit sandwich--I'd be right there with you!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazingly creative project for a photo walk! You were obviously in the right town for this alphabet hunt.
ReplyDeleteWow this was so neat. - I love that you found all the letters of the alphabet in signs. So many great ones. - I may have to give this a try some time after it cools down a little.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting project. Thanks for sharing.
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