Flicking through my collection of beautiful strangers has really got me thinking about some of the things I have found along my many travels and those that I’ve lost. All around the world, littered in cafes, bars, parks, on sidewalks, between cushions and on table tops are things that people have lost or left behind like footprints in the snow, waiting to be followed. For some one to come along and tell it’s story.

From to-do lists, random thoughts and love notes scrawled across paper napkins to christmas cracker toys, postcards and well loved second-hand books with notes in the margin and underlined words, paragraphs and passages. My imagination and curiosity has always been sparked by these glimmers of intimacy.

This kind of sentimentality reminds me of when I was a child. I used to covet things, wear them, play with them, and hug them till they fell apart – at one point I had a bear without a head but I didn’t seem to care. There’s a romantic innocence perhaps in these finds; living as we do in a culture that’s constantly evolving and looking for newer, bigger, and better replacements for the things we have as we upgrade, exchange and refund to keep pace with the shiny new instead of mending and nurturing the faded yet reliable. So I say – in with the old and out with the new! Let’s bring back some of that romantic innocence and let our imaginations run wild. Send me your finds – the wierd, wonderful, strange and beautiful and I shall do the same – let’s share what we have found and retell some forgotten stories!

This is a vintage Japanese postcard sent from Honolulu Hawaii to Brooklyn in 1908. I discovered this precious gem in a Williamsburg thrift store the other week. Love the bright colors and the message scrawled on the back seemingly in a hurry!