Although the example are somewhat of the same genre, the subject, THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE, is wide open to your interpretation. The only guidance I can offer is the image should speak to what we owe to previous generations, or even your own generation I suppose, good or bad. My examples are a Kansas schoolhouse, 16th Century Spanish mission church, and ruins of sugar mill.

Here are the (usual!) rules (just copied from Adam's contest listing)

Rules
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme (especially if it's not obvious).
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and choose one of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus an additional day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax (or Samsung DSLR) camera can be used.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.
9. In case the winner of a challenge is unable to become the judge for the next challenge, they will PM the #2 winner for that person to be the judge.

Read more at: About the weekly challenges - PentaxForums.com

Contest runs through Tuesday, July 27th.

Read more at: Weekly Challenge #540- Silhouette or Very High Contrast - PentaxForums.com

[SpecialK]

[pacerr]

OK, now let's get serious here.

Without traveling back all that far in time (or distance for some of us, ), what would you really, REALLY miss
the most . . . just toilet paper or . . . ? And a 'two-holer' was definitely considered an upgrade for most families!

Oh, yeah, an' after dark? Don' worry about that giant spider that lurks underneath there . . . he's really
harmless an' just wants a l'il friendly attention!

[gump]

OK, now let's get serious here.

Without traveling back all that far in time (or distance for some of us, ), what would you really, REALLY miss
the most . . . just toilet paper or . . . ? And a 'two-holer' was definitely considered an upgrade for most families!

Oh, yeah, an' after dark? Don' worry about that giant spider that lurks underneath there . . . he's really
harmless an' just wants a l'il friendly attention!

and in summer it is 100 feet too close to the house, in winter 100 feet too far away.

[StephenHampshire]

Maiden Castle in Dorset.

To quote from English Heritage, who manage the site:


Maiden Castle is one of the largest and most complex Iron Age hillforts in Britain. Its vast multiple ramparts enclose an area the size of 50 football pitches, and the site was home to several hundred people in the Iron Age (800 BC–AD 43). Excavations in the 1930s and 1980s have shed much light on the development of the hilltop, from its origins as a Neolithic enclosure over 6,000 years ago, through many centuries of modification during the Iron Age, to the building of a Romano-British temple

[CedrusMacro]

Some great links to the past here. I'm going to go a slightly different way with this. I'm a life-long motorcyclist; having been on the road exclusively via motorised 2 wheels since I could legally start- and now over 2 decades and some 44 motorcycles owned I've got an intimate appreciation for the development that the generations have brought. Some developments I wish were still used, like two stroke engines, however braking has improved vastly as has suspension and (generally) handling.

There's something evocative I find in an older engine; they were often included as an integral piece of the design; function and form had to work in balance. My modern bike (a water-cooled Ducati Multistrada) has a frankly so-so engine that's more function....

So I submit this image that captures one of those generational leap moments, and a trait many modern motorcyclists have been thankful for.

[hoffm141]

The prehistoric Hohokam people lived in southern and central Arizona for more than 1,000 years from 200-1400 CE and millions of petroglyphs like this one can still be found throughout the area. The Hohokam were agricultural pioneers and the first to build irrigation canals off of the Salt and Gila rivers to direct water into their fields. Their complex canal networks were renovated in the early 20th century and served as the basis for the modern system that fueled the growth of Phoenix from a small western farming town into the metropolis that it is today. The spiral is a common symbol thought to represent wind, water and the journey in search of the center of the world.

Neat shot, Cooks. Reminds me of a high school trip where we helped an archeologist sift through a Hohokam site. I am still amazed how the subtle markings on the rocks are still visible after all the years.

[cooks333]

Neat shot, Cooks. Reminds me of a high school trip where we helped an archeologist sift through a Hohokam site. I am still amazed how the subtle markings on the rocks are still visible after all the years.

Thanks, hoffm. They're a very interesting story, especially since they effectively vanished sometime around 1400 and no one is 100% sure why. I've been doing some more reading and realized I was a bit overzealous about my estimate for the number of petroglyphs that have been found. Definitely thousands and not millions. Post has been corrected!

[glinda]

OK, now let's get serious here.

Without traveling back all that far in time (or distance for some of us, ), what would you really, REALLY miss
the most . . . just toilet paper or . . . ? And a 'two-holer' was definitely considered an upgrade for most families!

Oh, yeah, an' after dark? Don' worry about that giant spider that lurks underneath there . . . he's really
harmless an' just wants a l'il friendly attention!

What did they do in cities of old , Pacerr ? Do you know ?

[turbo_bird]

I've been trying to decide what to post here, and with all the news lately about how the government of Canada mistreated natives with the residential school system, it's nice to hear about some of the things that were done right in the past too. I think I'll share a photo I took recently of an abandoned rural school. It was built in 1912 by a guy that settled in the area in 1898, and was used until 1957 when a new school was built. He was a rancher and homesteader, who saw a need in the area for a school. Instead of going to the government as many people today would, he solved the problem on his own. According to locals, the school was attended by the children of area ranchers as well as natives on the nearby reserve. The land it sits on is still owned by the same family, and they are still ranching in the area. Without this school, children in the area would have either had to either not go to school at all, or attend some type of boarding school in town.


Kristian

[pacerr]

What did they do in cities of old , Pacerr ? Do you know ?

How old? It's not a modern problem. There's always been a practical side to civic engineering solutions. Some solutions were pretty crude but the first questions seems to be "Does a river run through it?" . . . oh, and "What's your potable water source?". And there was more than one reason gentlemen walked on the gutter-side of the sidewalks in the days of the horse and buggy.

Ceramics and pottery included something utilitarian called a 'chamber pot'. There was a job descriptions that you don't often see today but there were job opportunities other than flippin' 'burgers if you had a push cart.

Try searching on phrases like "Roman sewerage" (or medieval). Of course ANY failure of a water supply today has issues.

(A shortage of 'Charmin' paper products isn't quite the same as gettin' the ' sh_tty end of the stick"! or the last page in the Sears catalog. )

[James A.]

This is the old wood burning stove that was in the basement when I bought the house. The cap it's wearing is the top of the old chimney. Stoves have come a long way since then. I installed an eco-friendly version. After two winters got fed up of sitting in front of a steel door in only my underwear!

[bogwalker]

I don't have a long history with the Pentax yet, so my choices are limited.... but I did take a decent old barn picture a couple weeks ago. Probably dates from the 1920's or 30's.


I also dabble in genealogy, and have some pictures that my grandmother's great-aunt took in the 1900's and 1910's, including several of people on horseback or wagons. But those are definitely not taken on a Pentax

[jchorst]

I don't know if you still accept any entries. If not, please disregard mine.

[gump]

Remind me to make it easier on myself if there is a next time. I have heard the experts talk about a photo telling a story and that certainly was a major part of this exercise. It also spoke to adding text to a photo. That brought aaacb's Holocaust Memorial to life and provided understanding to Cedrus Macro's "bike." I had to be aware of personal experience with stuff in photos by Rod Grant and Pacerrr. Ships and old buildings are of special interest to me from the history and artistic perspectives. I also am drawn to gravestones, most suggest a story. I have spent time in the last few years in the Southwestern US and the prehistory is impossible to ignore making Cooks333 entry notable and by the association of time Stephen Hampshire's. Like James A. I have experienced a wood burning stove as a necessity not as a decoration. I accepted Noelcmn's object as a printing press and wondered how it might have been part of South African history of the 20th Century or before. Maybe it printed the Winston Churchill reward poster. The late entry by jchorst that came in as i was writing this is certainly interesting and like the others leads to questions. Thank you all for your effort(s).

I have to choose one so we can have another challenge. My choice is jacamar's WWII defenses. As a subject I find the time period extremely interesting, not just the military aspects but the whole of society/culture. The photo itself with the solid defensive features contrasts to what may be a gathering storm (homage to Winston).

[jacamar]

Thanks so much for your choice of my image Gump and for your thoughtful comments. A lot of excellent shots this time round. I'll initatiate a new challenge in the near future.