tomorrow's classics in waiting

It's obvious that I like old things. My affinity for analogue cameras sort of gives it away. It's not just cameras, however, it's many things - cassette tapes, old mugs, classic shoes, e.t.c,. There's something about what is now 'classic' design that pleases me greatly. My all-time favourite car for instance is the Mercedes 280 SL. I will buy that car one day, that's for sure. 

The other day I found a bunch of books from decades ago. Most of them had aged gracefully - with the tanned paper and slightly faded cover. I was particularly struck by a copy of The Prince by Niccoliò Machiavelli. The grim looking illustration on the cover, the old book smell, the tanned pages and the classic fonts all together made the book feel a little, shall I say, creepy.

I was curious, so I read the first page.  Days later (I'm a slow reader), I'd finished the book. I hate to read, but the thinness of the book served as encouragement that the end was nigh with the turn of each page. You know, I quite enjoyed it. It's not just the book itself that has aged, then language in which the book was written has aged too.  It's not quite 'classic' English yet, but it's well on its way. The colloquial meanings of some of the words have certainly evolved compared to today's popular English.

An added bonus for me is that old books make a great photography subject. The above book was snapped next to a very modern IKEA mug. The thing is, to me, the mug's modern look is completely charmless. In 30 years time, however, people would look back to this IKEA mug as a classic. Indeed back during Word War 2, many of these classic cars I swoon over were nothing but utilities, mechanical tools for getting from A to B. Hence, lately my attitude has changed slightly towards photographing our own contemporary utilities. They are simply classic objects in waiting.