Vintage Photos: Autumn Out the Window, 1983

Bernadette October 29, 2023October 29, 2023 1 Comment autumn, black and white photos, cat photographs, cat photography, cat photos, cats, pet photography, pets, photography

black cat silhouette at window — Autumn out the window

So cat silhouettes have always been a thing for me, even from the first photos ever on that first roll of black and white film and my old Pentax K-1000. I touched it up with a bit of a deep yellow filter to make it look as if it’s an autumn day outside. I’m not sure if this is my Kublai or my roommate’s cat Puck, at this angle they would look about the same. They were indoor-outdoor—eek!—so they both wore collars, but they weren’t indoor-outdoor for much longer. They were both young, less than five years old, and it’s a great memory of that time in their life and mine.

Vintage Photos from Previous Years

Autumn Explorations in Black and White, 2004 or so

Moses enjoys her autumn nap on the bricks.

Why photograph the most colorful season in black and white? To challenge what I see and what I think I know, to see the shapes and details and the compositions, leaving me with textures and patterns that are the foundations of my compositions. The colorful leaves and amber sun, all the comforting warm tones, change to values of gray in black and white, but the light…the light is still that distinctive angle, nearly horizontal sometimes, highlighting details you might not notice in any other season. And this was black and white film, because there is nothing like black and white film, with lenses and filters, not digital shots with effects, so it was even more challenging than the immediate reassurance of checking the little display on my digital camera.

I found a box of black and white photos that I knew had existed but had been separated from the rest. They are from 2004 to 2006, so not terribly vintage, but because black and white processing became more and more difficult during those years I had to wait to see my photos. I found local film developers who would still do a few rolls and took several at once, then tucked them all together in a box and in my studio. Over the course of those three years, just before I bought my DSLR but still had a halfway decent Olympus digital, I went out to the garden, to my neighborhood, and to the trails with a roll or two of black and white film in October or November.

Stanley just can't stay awake on the deck. — Stanley just can’t stay awake on the deck.

Of course, there are cats on each roll too, and watching them enjoy their sunbaths works with color or without. Moses was always hard to resist on her bricks, and of course she works just fine in black and white. And I so enjoyed exploring Stanley at the end of his life when he was so much more relaxed. I think I’ll be featuring this theme over the next two weeks as well, and we’ll see Moses on her bricks and Stanley on the deck, Namir and Sophie in morning sunlight and watching me from the front door as the leaves fall and the sun changes from soft to stark as November comes near.

Above are all the feline photos, below the flowers and vegetables. To save time I scanned them in groups and left most of them that way, pulling a few favorites to feature; there were others on this roll too. I have so many photos I will never be able to do anything with most of them but share them now and then, but at least I can do that, and I hope you enjoy them.

Squashes making the most of the end of the season, corn tops with a tiny spiderweb, a last squash blossom like a star, more kale with dewdrops.

Dill, more dill, asparagus fern, more kale with dewdrops.

Kale with dewdrops, a mountain of autumn joy sedum, feverfew reaching for the sun, sedum flowers.

Cleome in high contrast, a simple yellow marigold, dill with dewdrops very closeup, just a mass of shapes in the garden.

See other photos of Moses on The Creative Cat and read the story of her rescue and life.

See more Vintage Photos, scanned from prints on film through the years and photos From the Archives which were never featured here.

Also see more photos of Garden Kitties.

Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

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Feline Artwork from Portraits of Animals!

watercolor of three black cats with spattered background — “Looking Out the Front Door”, cropped version, Watercolor, 6″ x 9″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Giuseppe, Mimi and Mewsette spend some time watching out the front door. Read more, and purchase.

Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.