51 Comments
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Alicia Paley's avatar

Great photos, and not a cell phone in sight!

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søren k. harbel's avatar

No signal! Thanks, Alicia!

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Aminus3 Photography's avatar

Great idea for a series Søren and a fantastic collection of reader portraits.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Thank you, aminus3 Photograhy, it has been fun to dig these out and put them together!

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Susanne Helmert's avatar

What a beautiful poem and wonderful photographs, too! I am impressed how photographs you have to cover that topic!

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Thank you, Susanne, I have a least one more round for another day. It seems I am drawn to readers when I see them. Nostalgia, perhaps. And I really like the poem and think it works for any book, so I added it, which I think works pretty well!

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Susanne Helmert's avatar

It does. And I am glad you shared it with us.

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Jonathan Crain's avatar

Wonderful photos of people doing my favorite thing.

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Simon Bohrsmann's avatar

Nice one Søren. Next time I open a book in public I will check for your camera!

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Keep looking…. you will never see me. Very stealth! 😃

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Simon Bohrsmann's avatar

Surely I will hear that good old analogue shutter

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Possible, but I use a Leica for minimal noise level. ;0) But, yes, if you are listening for it, you may hear it.

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KewtieBird’s Photo Journey's avatar

Another great installation of your series. 💜

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Hey Kewtiebird, Thank you! I appreciate your kind words and for always being there!

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Juliette's avatar

Lovely photos and poem. My favorite is the man smoking. Caught mid-stream.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Hi Juliette, I figured you would pick that one… Thank you for the comment!

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Liza's avatar

Loving this series, Søren! Impressed by your travels and your trio of readers on the beach!

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Hey Liza, thank you very much. You are too kind ;0)

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Framing-the-Story w/AK's avatar

Excellent, Soren! Love the last two photos of the men reading a newspaper.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Thank you, Alex!

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Luz Mendes's avatar

Beautiful!.. And by the way, we all have a book inside us.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Hey Luz, thank you. I guess we should try to get the book out then! 😃

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Luz Mendes's avatar

Oh well, was it so easy, Søren! Normally these kind of books are unwritable.😁

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Mark Foard's avatar

Love the poem and your photo series is excellent, as always.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Hey Mark, Thank you very much. I am glad I pulled these together. It sort of works!

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Mark Foard's avatar

It works very well.

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Mark White's avatar

Long live Twain. Words to travel with.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Hey Mark, He did have a way with words and spoke the truth, when nobody wanted to hear it!

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Mark White's avatar

He was decades ahead if his time with his thinking.

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Lin Gregory's avatar

This is such a great series Soren - you have an impressive collection of readers in your archive. That's a wonderful poem to open with as well - Julia Donaldson is an amazing writer for young and old alike!

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Thank you, Lin! I do have a good size collection. And you are right, it is a great poem.

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Designing With Code's avatar

A beautiful set of photos capturing people enjoying their daily read. It’s great to see so many of us still prefer printed books and newspapers, keeping it old-school in today’s digital age.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Thank you, Designing with Code! It is a different feeling than on a screen, phone or on TV. It may be old fashioned, but I like it!

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Designing With Code's avatar

Me too 🤓

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Todd Haughton's avatar

I loved reading that poem by Julia Donaldsen and found myself drawn into the timeless feeling of reading a good book. All the photos you included were great, and I especially liked the men on the park bench (Bologna, 2019)—particularly the man at the end of the bench trying to read while others talked around him.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

Thank you, Todd! I saw the guy deep in his book in Bologna, while all the others were groaning on. It is a fun couple of benches. I have gone there several time and it is a great mix less fortunates with bottles, international shoppers and locals shooting the breeze.... Always something going on.

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sangram's avatar

Beautiful poem, thank you for sharing. I too am someone who has been moving from place to place, city to city for work. That is why I had restricted myself from acquiring books. I read them online, but don't buy them as I don't want to travel to the next temporary home with all the books. Recently though, I have found a public library with a great collection of photography related books and it has quickly become my favorite corner. I enjoy reading a physical version of a book ilmuch more, and it has solved my problem for now. May be one day I will be able to settle somewhere and make my own mini home library, for now a public one will do just fine.

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søren k. harbel's avatar

You are a wise man, Sangram. I pack up my books in a lot of boxes and curse each time I have to pack and unpack, but they are like family.... what can you do! Libraries are a very good solution, if you can find a good one! Thank you for visiting my Post!

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