Today, I’m featuring photos from the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site kitchen. I’ve posted about this historical site in John Day, Oregon, before. It was boarded up for many years when the doors were finally opened, it was like a time capsule inside.
Whenever I visit there, I think about how good the various shapes and textures would look in monotone pictures. However, the vibrant colors are also interesting. Since I was unable to decide which way to process the photos I took, I’m showing both color and monotone sepia versions. Move the slider to compare them. I used a dark vignette effect on all of the photos.
The first one shows a wood cooking stove with a small shrine behind it. I like how the orange color glows in the color version.
The second photo shows various products in this kitchen of the past. In this one, I like how the labels stand out in color.
The third one is a collection of bottles. I like how the highlights shine in the sepia tone version.
The fourth one shows canned products and plates and utensils. I like how the sepia tone version blends everything together without distractions.
The last one is of the small kitchen table, complete with place settings. The shapes and structures stand out in the sepia version, but I like the splashes of color in the color version.
Sometimes it’s hard to decide what makes the “best” photograph. For those of us you who are indecisive, the Image Compare tool lets you show different versions of the same picture. It’s a cool tool!
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Inspiration found in the kitchen
This was an excellent fit for the challenge Siobhan and your comparisons were a great idea. Loved the subject and each of the images. I’d say the orange hue in the first is perfect but for the rest I loved the aging quality of the sepia tones. Beautiful work on this one
Thanks, Tina! I was having a really hard time deciding. Yes, I like the orange-colored shrine, too.
I’m curious about how many of those items were actually in the kitchen when it was opened up and also its story. Whose kitchen was it? A single family? If so, is Kam Wah Chung the one who lived there?
Many of those items were there, but some from the same time period were added. Kam Wah Chung was a store/ meeting place/ boarding house/ apothecary and doctors office for local people and Chinese immigrants working in the area–mostly gold mining and working on railroad lines. Late 1800s through early 1900s. See my link at the beginning of the article. You can go on guided tours and they are fascinating!
I love this sort of thing. I visited Anne of Green Gables’ house and it was similar. I loved the kitchen the most.
👍
Opps. My comment disappeared. Don’ t know if I erased it or if it is just being reviewed before being published. This is a test to see what happens this time.
Image compare worked so well Siobhan 🙂
Yeah, I like playing with it! 😁
I can see why you were unsure whether colour or sepia was the more effective, I would feel the same I think. Perhaps though I prefer the colour on the whole as I like picking out all the details in places like this! However the last one looks best in sepia I feel.
Thanks! Sometimes, it is just hard to decide.
So glad they opened this to the public. I really enjoyed your pairs of images. It’s always such a delight to visit such places to catch a glimpse of life in the past.
Thanks! Yes, I’m glad it’s open to the public too. 🙂
This was fantastic! A time capsule indeed. For me, I am not sure I had a preference for color or sepia. I love the stories the kitchen tells. Image compare is a fun tool. A great theme to use it.
Yes, it does have many stories within its walls. Glad you understood why I had a hard time deciding. Eenie meenie mighty mo…
I really enjoyed seeing your pictures and especially each one in color and monotone sepia. No wonder you had a hard time deciding which to use. You also chose a very interesting topic!
Thanks, Sylvia! Yeah, I usually don’t have a problem deciding on which to show, but I did on that post.