Sunday, November 25, 2012

Unforgettable - but not now

Here's Stonehenge without a fence or sanitized path. You could touch the stones, lie on the altar slab and imagine all kinds of things in 1959. What an unforgettable experience!


I took these photos with the latest design Kodak Brownie 127, a 10th birthday present. 

Have you taken photos from viewpoints that are now forbidden? I often wonder if we really need to protect so many sites from visitor interaction. I'm told they have also fenced off areas in Carnarvon Gorge in Queensland where I once sat and let my imagination run wild. 


I mean, in these days when celebs can be photographed from five miles away, it can't be that hard to unobtrusively monitor to make sure people don't do something regrettable.

When I make school visits to talk about 'The History of Books', students can handle a Mesopotamian sales docket from 1800BC...





read Gregorian chant from a page written in 1280...


unwrap a land document written on vellum, complete with King George III's wax seal...




and handle many other treasures.

Are the risks of something being damaged worth taking? Absolutely!


'Peter's workshop was, without a doubt, the highlight of our library year!'
Ormiston College, August 2012 

Many thanks to staff and students!

All children and adults need rich experiences to savour.

Peter Taylor