Today, I am sharing with my SOL community a slice of what I have been doing! I've been doing a deep dive, sorting through old photos. Some like these incredible tin-type beauties are clearly old, most likely from the late 1800's when the cost was accessible to working class families. I am pretty sure they represent my great-grandmother's generation or perhaps the great-greats (
immigrants all); sadly, I am pretty sure I will never know who they were nor why they were able to get such a photos in the days when photos were rare!
The grainy remaining image of this one, even older, makes me wonder about the impact of time for today's photos! I wonder how future generations will cope with the mass of photos from parents who captured every smile, step, and word uttered in video as well as images. Will they all be lost to cyberspace like those clunky VHS recorder images (
now cluttering landfills) we older people made of special events? I also realize the
significance of any image supported only by the printed words that accompany them. It is going to be a gargantuan task to go through and label the 7 million images parents these days have taken of their precious ones! But, otherwise who will know?
For example, this image taken of my mother's table on the morning of her funeral awaiting people to fill bags with her treasures brings only me right back to that day. I can feel the
significance of a tearful, sorting and setting up late the night before. I still had a long drive home thinking about finding a 24hour grocery to buy flowers! No one else could guess this!
Could anyone imagine this is a close up of a magnificent tree in the lobby of a grand hotel on the day of a grand family wedding? No one would guess the
significance of this as the last time my nuclear family would be in the same place at same time! Not a soul could imagine that miracles would emerge from that glitter!
Sure, this looks a bit like a modern version of
Grant Woods American Gothic'; however, it is an image of a special night celebrating a modern day, education-farm! It's also a way to give a birthday shout out to a special someone who celebrates a
significant day today! The unknown tin types fill me with curiosity; yet, there is a message to remember the
significance of words along with images!
This last picture is of the birthday girl's homemade birthday present, because clearly I can be distracted from this photo soring project! I guess it is a
significant reminder that I do my best work with fixed due dates! Happy Birthday MAF
The grainy remaining image of this one, even older, makes me wonder about the impact of time for today's photos! I wonder how future generations will cope with the mass of photos from parents who captured every smile, step, and word uttered in video as well as images. Will they all be lost to cyberspace like those clunky VHS recorder images (now cluttering landfills) we older people made of special events? I also realize the significance of any image supported only by the printed words that accompany them. It is going to be a gargantuan task to go through and label the 7 million images parents these days have taken of their precious ones! But, otherwise who will know?
5 comments:
Anita, you are still going strong with the stories and photos, and I like the way you have incorporated several photos into this slice. It's a great way to preserve your family's history and I'm wanting to hear more about the glitter tree miracles. That American Gothic picture you mention looks like exactly where I live right now, like I could open the front door and see that sitting over by the barn. Love the reference to the famous painting!
Anita, I really enjoyed your trip through these select photos. Those old ones are precious, and yet, as you point out, they are missing their stories! That should make us write about the special images where we know the stories, as you are. Your image of the landfill full of old VCR’s was poignant and strong. I also wonder how future generations will select and preserve memories. I try to print a few photos for my digital kids, and now I will send them with written notes!
PS your photo of the table at your mother’s funeral is so moving. Well, actually, that’s a photo that kids would not understand and would throw out, if not for your notes :)
It is a shame that so many pictures have no information written about them. I guess pictures snapped it a moment precious to those in it as well as the one taking it don't have the same importance to those viewing them years later, especially if the viewer has no idea who the people in the picture are. In this digital age, I wonder how many pictures will be lost once those who have taken them are no longer with us. arjeha
Anita - I loved all those photos and the stories behind them. I've been sorting out family photos and sending them to my mother-in-law's sister in Colorado. She writes back and tells me who everyone is in the photos and I'm so glad I sent these photos to her - they mean a lot to her.
Your question as to what will become of all the pictures on our phones and in the cloud really resonates! I think about that all the time. I love looking at the photographs you share and reading your reflections.
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