Monday, June 12, 2006

My Grandma Was a Photographer!


My Grandma was a Photographer!
Originally uploaded by katzeye.
Last night we uploaded the photos that my sister took while staying at our mom's. She took a bunch of photos of old photos, so the quality was not always good (faded, wrinkled photos, etc.)

In this photo, my grandmother is taking a portrait of my mom, the little girl sitting in the chair.

My grandmother has the marcelled bob of a flapper, and the newly shorter skirts. She kneels to get a good shot of my mother, in her bob haircut, seated in the rattan chair. This was taken somewhere in southern CA, possibly in Santa Monica or Long Beach, where they had been living at the time.

The date on this would be around 1925-27.

What I discovered, as I looked through the hundreds of photos that my sister copied, was that there were a considerable number of good photographs. Typically, the photos that people have of their ancestors are stitled, posed, lined up in bright sun, etc. But my sister found many, many wonderful photos of people riding in model-Ts, playing on the beach in swimsuits to their knees, etc.

We also discovered that the photos that our grandmother took were, pretty much without exception, well composed, creative, and compellingly wonderful. (The photos she was in were never quite as good!)

What a delight to discover that my beloved grandmother, who was capable of sewing anything that I could conjure in my mind and sketch on paper, was also a gifted photographer.

It makes me feel as if some of her is in me, and that perhaps, she watches me and takes some joy in watching me compose creative photographs.

What a wonderful discovery!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such a wonderful photo!

Anonymous said...

forgot to say.. you should put some more of your grandmother's pics on flickr!!!

... said...

thanks, Nicolle. I will as soon as i have a moment.

Anonymous said...

Amazing. Not only a photographer, but apparently a wild streak as well.

Anonymous said...

That is cool.

Anonymous said...

who took the picture of her taking a picture?

... said...

Jason, hehe!

... said...

Anon, I think so, I loved finding that one! And there are so many more!'=

... said...

Kiera, not sure who took the photo, but we also have the photo that she took! I will post it somewhere someday soon!

Anonymous said...

That's cool too!

... said...

Thanks, anon, for your brief, to the point, and upbeat messages!

cecilia said...

It's awesome when you get to see a tiny piece of your parents or family background and it's esp cool that Grandma was hip! I would love to link to your blog off of mine (http://like2watch.blogspot.com) if that's OK. And of course it would be great if you wanted to link to mine!

Anonymous said...

What an amazing experience and what an amazing photograph!

Anonymous said...

I just came from Flickr where I saw this and other old photographs. These are amazing! I want to see more, too, and do you have stories for these people?

... said...

jbl-It really was an amazing experience, and it kind of gave me a sense of how we are all tied to one another, in good ways, happy ways, when seen from that kind of perspective. I am eager to dig up more of these photos and get them scanned, and attached to the right stories, etc.

... said...

bb- yes there are stories. Most of my ancestors were also quite capable writers, and even poets. I have a few journals and even published works. I just need to find the time to dig into the boxes. It would be fun to make it my life's work, if only....

Anonymous said...

Love it. Nice to know where we came from!

... said...

Liza-yes, isn't it?