Extreme Philately

 It's been a while since I've posted here, but I have been active over on Twitter. You can follow me at @ReluctantPhila1. 

One aspect of philately that I find fun is "Extreme Philately" - where one takes a stamp and matches it up to its real-life counterpart. It could be an outdoor location or building, a still-life, or other interior item or place.  I am not sure who was the first person to start this activity, but it's a technique that Graham Beck at Exploring Stamps has used for his video stamp explorations since his channel's inception in 2016.  

Beck is not the only one. There are many others on Twitter and Instagram sharing their photos of the stamp and the counterpart. Try searching #xtremephilately on either service and see some examples from across the globe. 

Medieval Philately created a pyramid to illustrate the difficulty of capturing the various aspects of a stamp. The bottom of the pyramid has the easiest - indoor items, whereas the top is the most difficult - scenery.  You can check it out here. 

I finally obtained a stamp as a Christmas gift (it was a very stampy Christmas) that would work. 

As you can see I started at the bottom of the pyramid with an indoor item. 

This photograph features Botswana # 873 issued in 2008. The image of the actress (and singer! and poet!) Jill Scott, who starred as Precious Ramotswe in the too short-lived HBO series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency based on the wonderful novels of the same name by Alexander McCall Smith.  I am a fan of this series and was happy to also receive the twenty-second novel in the series as a Christmas gift.  

Will I engage in more extreme philately? If the stamps align, yes.