empty chairs at empty tables by summerfield

empty chairs at empty tables

"There's a grief that can't be spoken
There's a pain goes on and on
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone

Here they talked of revolution
Here it was they lit the flame
Here they sang about tomorrow
And tomorrow never came.
...
Oh my friends, my friends forgive me.
That I live and you are gone
There's a grief that can't be spoken
There's a pain goes on and on

Phantom faces at the window
Phantom shadows on the floor
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more.

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me
What your sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will sing no more..."
- les miserables (the broadway show)

-o0o-
not a lot of snow on the benches at the st. lawrence market, unlike from three weeks ago, but they still looked forlorn unoccupied when normally they'd be full of people at lunchtime even in the winter. whenever i see something like this, that song from "les miserables" comes to mind. when i first arrived in canada, i briefly dated a guy who was the understudy for the role of jean valjean in the toronto production of les mis, and oh, boy! could he sing. when he's off from his understudy duties, all we did was sing, he was my marius and i was his eponine. he got to play marius just one time while we dated. aside from the music, though, we didn't click as he was too vain, i wanted to slap him silly. all actors probably need to be vain; boosts their self-confidence maybe. and then he went on to become a lawyer. tee-hee!

today, though, was a miserably cold day that your skin will get frostbite if exposed for just mere minutes. i walked down to the market and halfway through my walk, i couldn't feel my fingers anymore so my shooting spree was limited to this and a few shots.

also entry for beau's @losthorizon "music to photo" challenge. http://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/16008/music-to-photo-competition

finalist as chosen by jeff walker for the 'eye of the beholder' challenge.
A gorgeous shot.
January 24th, 2013  
@carolinedreams - thank you, caroline.
January 24th, 2013  
@summerfield Thanks back to you for tagging me in the flash of red challenge. It looks really interesting so I may take part. :)
January 24th, 2013  
@carolinedreams - that's great! it's going to be fun. when i first joined a challenge with a week of black and white i really wasn't comfortable with it. on the third day though, i turned my p&s so that it will take b&w instead of taking a photo in colour then processing it. it made me look at things differently and selectively. you really get to develop an instinct whether a shot would or would not look good in black and white. so, i shall look forward to viewing your photos.
January 24th, 2013  
oh wow -- I knew exactly what song that was when I read the first line!!!! And it works with this photo! Great story of dating Jean Valjean......! You've had so many adventures!
January 24th, 2013  
Lyn
heavens - 1145 photos?!? Is this your third year?? I wanted to thank you so much for your kind response to my end of project slideshow - what a lovely thing for you to say. So I'm back and I'll be stopping by whenever time permits. . .let's keep going in this marvelous artistic community of friends and portrayers of beauty. BTW: this is a grand shot!! Love what you've done with the processing!
January 24th, 2013  
@cscecil - life is just full of adventures and we take it as they come, if and when we want to. yes? thank you, CS.
January 24th, 2013  
@lyno - my third year, if you can believe it. there was no looking back when i started 365. gone through quite a number of cameras and on the verge of a second dSLR. and i can categorically say everything i know in photography i learned on 365. this community is a great place to be. i love it here. thank you, lyn, for stopping by. quite flattered, mind you. i'm so glad you're continuing on, now i can click that 'follow' button. and i did enjoy your slide show, it was quite unique with you playing the background music. now i really want to learn how to play the piano. guess, we'll be seeing each other around here. cheers, lyn!
January 24th, 2013  
As always a delightful tale to go with a great shot. Call me crazy (well you can because you know in my own way I am) but this one's a fav for me. But then I sort of like the abandoned look of winter at certain times. And this is one of those times.
January 24th, 2013  
Nice story and nice shot. I heard you are getting some pretty cold weather your way and maybe some snow as well
January 24th, 2013  
@olivetreeann - at my age, very few things i can call crazy and certainly not you. artists have different sets of eyes and see things in their own way. i'm apt to go back there and take shots of these benches. there's something about it that i know i haven't captured. so there, two of us crazies, eh? thank you, ann.
January 24th, 2013  
@bkbinthecity - yes, we are in the deep freeze until the weekend. you know the weird thing was it was snowing hard yesterday, a white out, and it was so cold. i've never known it to be so cold and snowing. at least the snow disappeared right away. thank you, brian.
January 24th, 2013  
Sue
brave you for getting out there in the cold for a shot...I like it!
January 24th, 2013  
beautifully shot :)
January 24th, 2013  
A great shot - almost feeling abandonment :)
January 24th, 2013  
Wonderful composition and the processing is perfect! The song and picture are perfectly suited!
January 24th, 2013  
love the composition of this one! cold solitary feeling!
January 24th, 2013  
it always makes me a little sad to see empty tables and playground equipment. Great capture.
January 24th, 2013  
Like the lighting, the focus, the lines; nicely done
January 24th, 2013  
Fabulous line up, ove the DOF and the tones too.
January 24th, 2013  
Lovely!
January 24th, 2013  
Great lonesome shot.
January 25th, 2013  
Wow, it's been cold. My feet almost froze to the subway platform at Yorkdale on Wednesday morning. So glad it's warming up by next week. I'm getting too old for this. ;)
January 25th, 2013  
Gorgeous pov and dof ....my fingers are frozen from taking photos here. And we haven't gotten what one would call a "beautiful snowfall" yet. I loved Les Mis ... such a wonderful classic, isn't it?
January 25th, 2013  
Gorgeous! Love the tones and your DOF! Did you tilt-shift this?bMy eyes started to go all misty when I read the first few lines of the lyrics, looking at those tables made me feel quite sad that they are so abandoned...and then the rest of your story just made me crack up :-) cool challenge! My pic from last night would fit that too, must dash and tag it now :-)
January 25th, 2013  
sorry for the late acknowledgement.

@roth - thank you, sue. i had to go and buy nuts, so why not? :-)

@northy - merci!

@aurorajane - thank you, aj.

@salza - thank you, sally.

@monaalta - thank you, alta.

@sarasdadandmom - thank you, terry.

@claireuk - thank you, claire.

@ruthmouch - thank you, ruth.

@paulien - thank you, paulien.

@henrir - thank you, henri.

@russianblue - too old? hehehe. wait till you get to my age. thank you, kass.

@karenann - thank you, KA. read the book and seen the play countless times.

@bmnorthernlight - no, not tilt-shift, just sloppy processing. :-) thank you, barbara.
January 28th, 2013  
I am struggling to get myself to go outside. I want to curl up and stay warm. I think I'm part bear and belong hibernating in the winter. Awesome shot for the challenge too!!
February 1st, 2013  
This is really gorgeous! Love the tones.
February 3rd, 2013  
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