Last week when I was in Florida, my grandparents showed me an old photo album that my grandma had compiled with her mother. I was fascinated. I couldn't believe how many photos it contained from the 1910s-1940s. With photography being a relatively new medium -- being invented in the mid-1800s and only becoming accessible to the public late that century -- I think it's pretty cool to have so many old family photos preserved from this time.
I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. The top image is of my great-grandfather and was taken in 1927.
This next photo is one of the oldest we have. It was taken around 1916. The adults are my great-great-grandparents who immigrated to America from Yugoslavia in 1910. My great-grandmother (top between her parents) was the oldest of 13 children. I was told that for a time, they lived in a railroad train box car.
I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. The top image is of my great-grandfather and was taken in 1927.
This next photo is one of the oldest we have. It was taken around 1916. The adults are my great-great-grandparents who immigrated to America from Yugoslavia in 1910. My great-grandmother (top between her parents) was the oldest of 13 children. I was told that for a time, they lived in a railroad train box car.
Looking at these images really got me thinking about the historical value of photographs. The photos I found myself drawn to were the ones that provided a sense of time and place -- oftentimes through cars, buildings, clothing or objects. When I'm taking photos today, these things all seem very ordinary, as I'm sure they did to my relatives back then. But now, looking back, they provide such an amazing window into another place and time. This realization makes me want to shoot more intentionally so that my photos communicate a sense of time and place. This could be as easy as not moving to crop out a car in the background -- something I oftentimes find myself doing.
This next photo on the left is my great-grandfather, Harry, who was a farmer in Nebraska. And on the right is my great-grandmother, Nell, and her brother Chet. These were both taken in the 20s.
This next photo on the left is my great-grandfather, Harry, who was a farmer in Nebraska. And on the right is my great-grandmother, Nell, and her brother Chet. These were both taken in the 20s.
And here's another photo of Nell & Chet. I love how my great-grandma wrote on the border of the image:
This is my great-grandparent's wedding portrait taken in 1929:
On left -- my grandma, Dorothy, as a baby in 1932 and my great-great-grandma Muriel. My grandma is often pictured as a baby outside in a high chair or crib. I thought that was kind of funny. But I suppose they couldn't take indoor photos back then. Or maybe that was the easiest way to hang out as a family outside?
On right -- my great-uncle Bob as a child. Just loved the feel and subject-matter of this one.
On right -- my great-uncle Bob as a child. Just loved the feel and subject-matter of this one.
Here's my grandma Dorothy around 1937:
And a bunch of my great-grandma's brothers hanging out on the Cadillac in the late 30s. Just love the feel of these too.
As I spent some quality time with the scanner this week, I also got to thinking about how we are going to pass down our photos to future generations. With SO MANY images taken of today's generation, and with everything being digital, this is something to really think about. Are you backing up your family photos? CDs and DVDs are on their way out and hard drives can fail. I'm thinking storing them in multiple places online might be the best way to go. I would love to see a site developed where people can track their family tree but also store photos that are attached to each part of the tree. Can you imagine how cool it will be for future generations to be able to track their families back 5-10 generations, not just with names, relationships and dates of birth and death, but with photos?
What are your thoughts on how we can best preserve our photos for the generations to come?
What are your thoughts on how we can best preserve our photos for the generations to come?
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