Saturday, November 8, 2014

"To take a photograph is to participate in another person's mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time's relentless melt." ~ Susan Sontag


I mentioned in an earlier post that my parents have moved from their home of 55+ years to a very nice apartment. As with any move, there are boxes to be gone through and things to sort. Many of the boxes contain old photos - tons of photos with tons of stories to tell. There are inevitably however, photos of individuals that no one can identify; no one can tell a story about. Such is the case the album and pictures below.



Who were these people? Who took their pictures?





What did they want to be when they grew up?


Twins? Sisters? Cooks?


What did he do for a living?


What is the most mischievous thing he did as a child?


What kept him up at night?


Oh the stories they would tell, if only we could ask them........

5 comments:

  1. I love the look of the album and the photos are haunting. Just as you have pointed out they do ask the questions.

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  2. What an exquisite and mysterious treasure. I used to collect nameless photos from thrift stores because I couldn't bear to leave them there unwanted and unknown. :-)

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  3. You are so right, all those questions that will never be answered! What a gem that album is, and all the more reason to write our own family stories while we remember them!

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  4. This is a phenomenal post--so evocative yet mysterious. Have you read anything by W.G. Sebold?

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    1. No, I have not. I just looked him up, and certainly the first book I read about "The Emigrants" sounds haunting - I will have to add his works to my list - thank you for the suggestion!

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