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The topic is "Text", so photos containing letters of any kind.

The contest will end at the end of September (UTC time). The following rules apply:

  • Up to three photos per answer. Photos in the same answer should be related.
  • You can make up to three posts (attempts).
  • Do not delete posts if you don't get votes: you posted it, stand by it. (You have two more attempts if your first one doesn't work out.)
  • All submissions should have a line with when and where the photo(s) was/were taken, along with a description of the subject.
  • The photo has to be taken by the person who posted it, or by a travel partner (needs to be named).
  • Keep it nice, CoC-compliant, non-offensive, and non-NSFW.
  • If you have people recognizable in the photo, you must either (a) have their permission to post the photo or (b) make them unrecognizable.
  • If you disagree with a photo, please consider leaving a comment on it or bringing it up in chat. For the purposes of judging, only upvotes will be considered; downvotes will not affect the score of the photo.
  • The photo may have been taken any time.
  • If there is no tie for the highest number of upvotes at the end of the month, the winner will be announced then; if there is, the voting period may extend beyond the month.
  • If you'd like to suggest a theme for a future photo competition, please add it to the list of possible photo competition topics. Also, you can join us in chat to help us make the decision on which topic to choose.
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  • Tiny nitpick: instead of "non-NSFW", could you perhaps write "SFW", perhaps with a link to en.wiktionary.org/wiki/SFW ? It seems I can edit myself, but not sure if that's OK on meta posts.
    – Saaru Lindestøkke
    Commented Sep 5 at 23:22
  • Let me recommend to the lovers of this topic this related blog, MaltaType, offering an artist's impression of modern and historic shop signs, types and letterings across Maltese archipelago. Outstanding to me!
    – MattAllegro
    Commented Sep 11 at 6:43
  • It's interesting that there are no criteria given for why a photo should be up-voted. Is that deliberate?
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Sep 23 at 14:35
  • 2
    @RayButterworth Yes, that is deliberate and has been from the start of the competition years ago. You vote for what you like or think meets the theme best.
    – Willeke Mod
    Commented Sep 23 at 16:21

16 Answers 16

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the decoration on the side of a bridge

text above a cycling tunnel under the N243 near Averhoorn

I was cycling through Noord Holland, and on the side of several of the bridges I noticed texts. Each of the texts had something to do with the local area, like its history.
In the first photo the words are Riet (reed) Moeras (swamp) Prut (dirt) and in the second photo you can read the second half of a sentence: "alle 130 kilometers lang" (all 130 kilometers long).

The full text of the railing is: "pedaalridders volg mij alle 130 kilometers lang" (pedal knights follow me all 130 km,) with the word ridders (knights) a play on rijders (riders). Which may well be an invitation to ride the Westfriese Omringdijk in total, although that might be only 126 km.
Thanks @mlc for finding the full text and further details.

I think the top photo was in or near Ursem, the second in Averhoorn, the Netherlands, 9 August 2024.

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    Per google street view, the second bridge in full reads "pedaalridders volg mij alle 130 kilometers lang". I was able to use that to find this document about the art project that these texts are part of from the province of Noord-Holland.
    – mlc
    Commented Sep 13 at 5:35
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    This was the highest voted post at the end of the month. Thanks all.
    – Willeke Mod
    Commented Oct 1 at 3:47
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I love the topic and I would scan my hard disks for hours!
First, a pair from Tarifa (Spain): located on the left and right of the path to the seaside, they show the names of the Dos Mares.
I took both the pictures on July 4, 2022, with my Samsung A50 phone.

mar mediterraneo tarifa

ceano atlantico tarifa

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How come only examples of latin alphabet in 9 answers? Here's the Rosetta Stone of toilets, that I caught at Canton Airport in November 2023. ;)

pedestal pan

squatting pan

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  • 1
    I had hoped on several non Latin alphabeth entries, there must be many of those on photos, just not in my collection.
    – Willeke Mod
    Commented Sep 11 at 12:41
  • @Willeke sure, indeed, and I bet you see I like to joke about such matters ;)
    – MattAllegro
    Commented Sep 11 at 13:55
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    You win the virtual prize this month. I met signs like these on the Japanese trains, accompanied by signs for the genders. 4 toilets per rail car.
    – Willeke Mod
    Commented Oct 1 at 4:12
  • @Willeke thank you, I'm glad if my amateur pics or the idea or the curiosity behind them are appreciated!! :)
    – MattAllegro
    Commented Oct 1 at 6:36
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Москва? Somewhere in China? No, it's Superkilen Park in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, where I took this photo on January 7, 2019.

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On the theme of "helpful directions":

Ardbeg street sign

Outside of the Ardbeg distillery on Islay in Scotland. Several bottles of Ardbeg are named after local points of interest. Some are not. May 2022.

Brno street sign

Mendel University, Brno. While looking for the botanical garden, I came across this sign, with no obvious corresponding key anywhere nearby. Having come from "other directions", I was forced to set off into the unknown. June 2015.

Bergen sign

Outside the Bergen airport, I think? June 2022

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John o'Groats just about the most northerly point on the UK mainland. I grew up a wee bit north of this, in Orkney, so travelled by boat down to here frequently. And as I then moved to Edinburgh in the late 80's, this sign has the two locations I spent the longest time in. Pic taken in 2014.

I'm a bit annoyed I can't find the photo I took of a similar sign near Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands...

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The south end of the road called via Santa Filomena in the center of Catania (Italy). Own picture taken in Summer 2021 but I think the lettering, enlightened in the evenings, is permanent.

via santa filomena, catania, italy 2021

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Text, quasi-text and tagging
Taken by me in a South Bank underpass in London, UK in February 2011.

enter image description here

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name on a house

two names on two houses

Beecksanghlaan, Velsen Noord, the Netherlands, in this terras of houses each has a name which is somehow related to a famous Dutch writer of the past. The three here can be translated to Morning Greeting, Bird Joy and Forrest Song. The photo of Rusthuis (retreat?) and Van Vondel did not work out, so not included. According to local legend the poet Van Vondel visited the big house across the road at one time, but I have a hard time getting the time and which house worked out.

Photos taken today, 2 September 2024.

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Taken by me somewhere in UK, on 6-6-6 (6 June 2006) with my first DSC.
Includes Roman number lettering on the clock face.

enter image description here

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Some advice which transcends location and time, albeit here found in Astoria, Queens, NY, on October 30, 2022.

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French Connection store

Seems like a dyslexic swearing, but it's just a French Connection store.

Taken in London, UK, in March 2010.

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Gute Fahrt message enroute to Belgium

Here is a message commonly seen in upscale German autobahn rest stops. This cracks me up every time. Germany, 2024 🇩🇪

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  • Especially since it is the company operating the public toilets at the rest stops, which is wishing a 'good fart'.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Sep 5 at 8:37
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Sign with info about bears

This is a very useful sign, with - I suppose - all the important information I needed to know about bears during my visit.

Luckily, I didn't see any bears that day.

Taken by me in December 2017, at Wekiwa Springs State Park, Apopka, Florida, United States.

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There sure are plenty of texts in this photo, though the only officially sanctioned one is of course the name of the city where I took this photo: Bogotá. This was on February 10, 2024.

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watch your step

enter image description here

I took this picture in Ericeira, Portugal in 26.08.2013

I was on my Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, f6.7, 1/500, ISO-100, 12mm

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