Timeless

I took this picture yesterday: This paddock usually holds horses, or earlier this year, a Hay crop. It was a pleasant surprise to see sheep in residence, and the low cloud or high fog that marked the day completed the picture. We are quite near the lane that appears in previous posts.

When I examined it I was was struck by the timeless nature of the image. The Saxon Church, the sheep, the trees and the wooden fencing would have looked the same a hundred years ago. If you changed the fence, then it would have looked a lot like this six hundred years ago.



A slightly closer view: Put the thatch back on the barn and it would be straight out of a Thomas Hardy novel perhaps



So, I searched for another couple of example pictures, and here we are in  an isolated village in mid Spain. This was taken only a couple of years ago, but squint at it with half closed eyes and imagine a sepia picture and it could be hundreds of years ago:




This is a larger Spanish town, in the heat of the afternoon. We were sitting in the shade with an ice cream when this old fellow shuffled by. I didn't feel right about photographing him face on, but as he receded down the hill I had my chance.



Its a little sad to point out the extraordinary aspect of these pictures are that they are ordinary. They are untouched by modern progress. That is their charm and power. 

Oooh look! A picture without a McDonalds in it.

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