Friday 29 October 2010

Musings on Photographs

I have always loved action photos. Seeing my girl run and jump about - her joy of that moment captured in a photo.



Recently we met a cousin not seen for 40 years. At my parent's house we looked through old photographs some I had never seen before. Photos of my gran as an young lady when all I could remember is an old lady who died when I was seventeen. Photos of my uncle who died young and photos never seen by his son now in her 50s, and last saw his dad when he was a child. Photos of my dad as a young man laughing with his parents and brothers and sister.

When I am old I will love those pictures of my Mary dancing down the street. I will feel her happiness and that moment of joy encapsulated in that moment the shutter clicked.

I will also pour over photos of people that show them facing the camera and looking out at me.  And I will look at their dearly beloved faces, their smiles, their laughter, the lines on their faces. The faces of the people I love, now gone but always in my heart. And photos of people I didn't know except as stories told by the family.



And when I am gone, long gone, and my great great grandchildren look at photos of me, I would like them to look into my face and maybe they will wonder about the person looking at them but now long dead.

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