Capturing History Through the Written Word

On May 22, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Austria, Egypt, Ireland5 Comments

In this digital age, we actually still are fans of owning physical books that we can open and read. Throughout history, the sharing of stories by writing them down has been an important part of preserving knowledge about the cultures that they represent. To some extent, everyone who has a web site and shares their stories is continuing in this same tradition, but obviously on a grander scale in this world where we are all connected electronically. One of the things that we find fascinating is when we come across an ancient text during our travels. Whether it is the Book of Kells in Ireland, papyrus hieroglyphs in Cairo, or just an ancient bible in a church, seeing the care given to these books and manuscripts is an important reminder of how much respect needs to be given to what has been written by our ancestors.

Writings and Books in the Sigmund Freud Museum

People Enjoying the Trinity College Library

Frozen in Time

On May 17, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge5 Comments

Have you ever wished that you could stop time? For those of you who are old enough to remember, there was an old Twilight Zone show where a man has a magical stop watch that will freeze time for everyone but himself. There probably isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t wish we had our own magical watch, but obviously that is never going to happen. The closest thing that we have to stopping time is through photography, where we can capture a moment in time and relive it forever. One of the things that we enjoy is seeing photographs of water that was in motion, but has become instantly frozen in the lens of the camera. Seeing these images are probably the closest that we will have to stopping time, so until we find our magical watch, we will have to make the most of the time that we have.

Another View of Geysir Starting to Erupt

When the People Move On

On May 15, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge, South America5 Comments

No matter where you travel, you will often find towns and cities where the people have left in large numbers because they couldn’t make a living where they were. They aren’t necessarily ghost towns, but they will be in time if nothing changes to keep the people from leaving. This is true no matter the country or part of the world. There is something very sad about seeing these places, but you certainly can’t blame the people who have left in order to try and make a better life for themselves and their families. There are times when these places find a way to transform themselves and revitalize their economies and there are other times when they simply disappear into history never to be heard from again. When we happen to come across one of these places with their dilapidated buildings, we try to take the time to document them through photography. One of our favorite such memories was visiting one such village, Chimboata, during our time in Bolivia.