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Michael K. Fell's avatar

I think the sepia and black and white are inspired by those old west photos of Edward S. Curtis, and with Willie's, there is a clear influence from Curtis’ photos of Native Americans. Also possibly Solomon Bibo. 

I love the photo of the hands. For an artist, they are the tools that create the art. Same with the feet of ballerinas. I also love the idea of how somebody who works with their hands, say Willie, Lucien Freud, or even a metalworking mechanic, compares to the hands of somebody who has never used them (the Queen's aging hands would have looked nothing like Willie's).

Wonderful article, as always, Richard. It was a nice read on a sunny morning in beautiful Arequipa, Peru, as I nurse my foggy Pisco head. 

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NickS (WA)'s avatar

The connection of music and aging is a rich one, there are any number of ways to connect and this is a nice tribute.

It occurs to me that, for all of the ways that people can lose physical skills and abilities as they age playing music is often one that can be maintained (though I also have a sense that many musicians at some point in their career have to learn how to manage tendonitis or posture problems imbalances that can come from carrying or leaning over an instrument for so long).

But I will take a moment to share one store about music and memory that just happened recently. Many years I'd found a video on youtube of someone singing a sea chanty with a couple of co-workers in a back room in their office. Part of what made it interesting was the way it demonstrated the legacies of the British empire, with an American and two people from the Indian subcontinent singing a song from the age of sail.

I had been looking for it, and unable to find it, and didn't have much hope -- that description, while clear, doesn't offer much use in searching for it. But then, at some point, I was looking for something on Mainly Norfolk and reading one article I thought, "wait, that's it, that's the song they were singing in the video over a decade ago." https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/stormalong.html

And, indeed, it was -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyMODqEYARE

It was an interesting demonstration of the way that music can trigger memories; in that moment it just came back.

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