Flickr a Day 204: ‘Planking’

Some fads are short-lived, while others you wish hadn’t been even that long. There is my reaction to planking four years ago. I was oblivious to the thing until someone commented on a pic of our cat Kuma posted to my social network. For fun, and no other reason, we begin three days of selections searched using the “P” word.

First up, from Patricia van Casteren, is the appropriately self-titled “Planking”, which she shot on June 21, 2011, using the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. Vitals: f/6.3, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, 210mm. “Even the polar bears are totally hooked on planking these days”, she says, providing reference to a Wikipedia article for folks who don’t know what the hell the thing—also known as the “Lying Down Game”. I am surprised to see the origins go back more than three decades, given the sudden surge in popularity four years ago. 

From Eindhoven, The Netherlands, Patrica professionally is a psychologist, who works with primates. Among her projects is website “Faces of War“. She explains:

Here you can meet a few of the millions of Amercian men and women who served in world-war two. Not the famous generals or movie stars, but the ordinary men and women who responded to Uncle Sam’s call. Over the years I have acquired a lot of pictures, newspaper clippings, doglegs, and other memorabilia. I try to discover the story behind these items by doing online research and digging through books and files.

She creates an outstanding historical archive that deserves more attention and also funding to improve the presentation around the individual soldier stories she tells.

Patricia is no longer active on Flickr, which she joined in June 2006.

Photo Credit: Patricia van Casteren