This – postcards – is what my photos most look like and I’m neither ashamed nor embarrassed by it.
A while ago I looked through all the episodes of a certain photography challenge with young candidates dropping out one per episode, with colourful jury presided by Mr. Benetton himself, Oliviero Toscani (I see now that last year Benetton fired him after decades of collaboration), and diverse shooting locations, conditions and models.
One of the first things the candidates were told were “do not just click” and “do not take postcard snaps”. Guilty on both counts.
I thought back and knew what decided my artistic vision, embodied by a postcard: it formed while I was playing with grandma’s postcards in Maribor, Slovenia’s second largest city where my father is from.
I was mesmerised. An image, words and love, all in one package, wow.
I loved sorting them into piles: those with one photo on and those with several (I rarely liked those), horizontal or vertical, those from abroad and those from Yugoslavia (my country at the time), those with one post stamp and those with several, or according to the addressee: grandma, grandpa, father, uncle, family Maksimovič.
Then I grew up and started to go places. I always loved choosing which postcards to buy, sometimes making my own, writing them over a cup of coffee and orange juice, sending them and finding new ones sent by friends in my post box upon return – oh, what a thrill.
They were the origin of comments that we leave to each other on our blogs, and if we are really lucky a hand-made postcard comes from New York in the flesh.
That’s why I’m not sorry that my photos look like postcards. They can still be sent and received with love.
Maribor and river Drava from grandma’s window. 
Capital Ljubljana from the Castle hill with Kamnik-Savinja Alps in the back. 
Kranjska Gora last August under the Julian Alps. As if I’d asked this (unknown) family nicely to come strolling by. 
Izola ten days ago from a gas station. 
One of Piran’s narrow alleys. 
What a postcard from my Tuscany hood would show: “Beloved space”, Lake Burano and happy kids.
What I did take away from watching that photo challenge was a most valuable lesson: Do not ever let anybody tell you which your best photos are. If you don’t know, they aren’t going to tell you. Everyone would choose a different one anyway.
As for yesterday’s basketball game SLO : ESP… ask Ana, this week’s guest host of the Lens-Artists photo challenge. She is Spanish. 😉 See, we had to win or we’d face the USA before the Olympic finals.
For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, guest-hosted by Ana at Anvica’s Gallery: Postcards
This day in my blogging history
An Embarrassment of Riches 
Well, keep taking the postcards
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Thank you, Sue! 🙂 This is exactly what I intend.
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😄
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You keep on doing what you do!! I love the way you “see”!
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Oh, Deborah, this means a lot since you know your views. Thank you so much! I’m glad to have you around.
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😀
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I have always loved the photos you share with us, Manja. Keep up the good work.
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Thank you most kindly, Dan. I love to share them, and I’m glad you like to look. To new views!
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Yes, keep doing what you’re doing! 🙂
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Thank you, Lynette. 🙂 I shall!
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I love postcards. I miss them. We used to send them regularly to the people who are long gone.
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Quite, Bojana. I left them all in Slovenia in boxes when I moved. They must be still around somewhere.
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I regret not taking them from granny after she passed.
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I watched the same series (actually there have been several such contests). As a keen photographer and also someone who takes a lot of interest in the art (visiting exhibitions for instance) I found that sometimes I agreed with the judges and sometimes (quite often in fact) I disagreed. The lesson you learned is a valuable one. Photography, like all art, is largely subjective and you can only go with what appeals to you and moves you. Having said that, you do yourself a disservice, as I think your photos are usually more imaginative and more interestingly composed than the majority of postcards, which tend to stick with ‘safe’ shots.
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Thank you, Sarah. I appreciate what you say. Yes, I disagreed with the jury – or even worse, with the guest mentoring photographer who was supposed to help the candidates but often made a terrible choice on their behalf – so often that I stopped trusting anybody’s opinion. Funnily enough, I enjoyed much more the British series in which artists had to draw portraits. I couldn’t do that even in my dreams.
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I agree about the mentors. Sometimes they were helpful but often I disagreed with them. Nevertheless I enjoyed the series
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Great view from the gas stations. Hello I find you lol.
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You did well! Thank you, Sunny Days. To new adventures!
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Thats an adorable little Manja! I love your description of postcards and the thrill of sending, receiving and sorting them. It’s a lost art now, with digital everything.
It’s true, everyone has their own photography style and what you like is what you like. So keep on doing what you love.
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Thank you, Sandy. It means plenty that you support how I do it since you know your stuff. Welcome to my new blog.
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I love postcards and the requisite photos myself. Carry on!
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Thank you, K. I shall! And thank you most kindly for the one in flesh that is still incoming.
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Great post, Manja! Your images are beautiful, they form a magnificent collection of postcards that I would take to my home.
As for basketball, I’m not very fond of sport, but I think we’re not doing very well with USA, I guess that was expected.
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Oh, Ana, I was really hoping that Spain would win. Sadly no. Thank you for this wonderful challenge theme and for following me on my new blog. All well to you.
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Filled with wonders as usual, Manja! Just keep going – we all love your personal, special and soulful style. And do I have a favourite? You. Little Manja sorting postcards. You describe the feeling so well, and I too loved doing these things at my grandma’s. Her sons went world wide, and I too was mesmerized. When I read your words, I faintly smile and miss the simple and innocent days of childhood. But we have known them. ♥
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Thank you, Leya. 🙂 I know that you know. We have knows these times. I consider us lucky. I appreciate your comments so much. Be well.
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Love it, Manja – sent you mail.
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❤ ❤ ❤ You did it perfectly.
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Beautiful! Why so few?! ‘Every picture tells a story, don’t it.’ –Rod Stewart
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Ahh, John, did you expect my proverbial 20? 😉 Still testing out my new blog. Also I’m in my country of origin. A bit busy. But thank you. And yes, it does.
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Manja, you are SO right about taking postcard photographs – after all, they absolutely capture the best of every place in the world, don’t they?! Your images are absolutely wonderful, especially those that capture light in different ways. The scene of the alley in night light is especially captivating. I loved them all and agree – contests simply feature the images the judges prefer. Who says they’re right and we’re wrong?!?!? Beautifully said and shown
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Ahhh, I’m really glad that you support my reasoning and examples, Tina. I do my best in the scope of my learning-by-doing and never wish to please anybody but myself. Thank you most kindly.
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To thine own self be true as they say Manja!
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