About to go for a swim perhaps, three friends of my grandmother's strike a pose for her camera. Click to see these gals in greater detail.
M Y C O L L E C T I O N — Over at This and That with Artichoke Annie, Annie has published a photo of her mother and three friends taken circa 1915. It reminded me of this photo my grandmother shot around that time of three of her friends. I'm guessing 1920, so it's a bit early for "flappers" but they look like the type of fun-loving gals that would have been Charleston-ing their nights away, lol. This is taken in Stony Creek, CT, right next to the water, and that gorgeous granite fountain behind them is still there right in the middle of the hamlet. This is the same little area of town where I had my art show last year. The Thimble Islands are off the coast, and count among their summer residents Jane Pauley and her husband Garry Trudeau, of Doonesbury fame.
I find the early pics of your family SO interesting. We have so few pics and in most of them, you will find farm animals, grubby landscape and to be honest, the subjects look very worn and hard-lived. I know it sounds naive, but I didn't realize that people of "that era" even had social lives!
ReplyDeleteEven more fascinating is your connection that you still have to the area and to the items belonging to "your people" .
love it...
mare
Mare—hi! you touched upon one of the reasons I love to use old images in my artwork—showing people and their LIVES back then. Showing people doing daily things, showing them interacting with other people or children, I love to show that these people really lived their lives, just like we do. So many times, they're just so much black and white (or gray and sepia) of tattered paper, their lives as worn away as the images. By bringing them back to life in Photoshop, and then for eternity under polyurethane on wood, I hope to show that life itself is always the same, no matter what the surroundings are, no matter what the politics of the day is. People are people are people, they had feelings and thoughts and desires just like we do today. If that makes any sense at all, it's late right now!
ReplyDeleteoh, and Mare, I'd find your photos of the farms and midwest landscapes fascinating too, I know it! I bet I could find some to use in my art.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to get to put up a few old pics...i haven't set up my desktop since we moved and my images are there...also, my scanner/printer bit the dust just before we moved...so...I know I need to replace it soon as I really really miss it! :)
ReplyDeleteI am going to delve further into family photos..what we DO have...and see if any really show any "fun"...most just show work or family...now I'm really curious to find out for myself what might be buries in old photos...again, if I can find any!!! :)
Mare: I would love to clean up/repair any photos that you scan that are faded and ripped, whatever. I find that I learn something from every photo I work on, so don't hesitate to scan a valued image even if it seems to be too faded or damaged, I've scanned images that were 3 shades of pale beige and brought them to life. In exchange, if I think I could use them in some art I'd like to be able to. You'll get great images you can save, blog, print or email, and I'll get a view of lives I haven't seen before. you never know how they'll interact with what i have.
ReplyDeleteOK CASEY, I WANT TO KNOW RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE FAMOUS,RIGHT? LOL. YOUR WAY TO SMART AND KNOW HOW TO DO SO MUCH. HELLS FIRE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW ENOUGH TO COME IN OUT OF THE RAIN. WHO WOULD WANT TO ANYWAYS. I'D LOVE A WALK IN THE RAIN. WHEN MOM DIED,MY SISTER IN LAW TOOK ALL THE PICTURES. MOM HAD MANY.MY SIL WAS INTO DOING THE FAMILY TREE SO SHE DID ALOT OF RESEARCH ON THOSE PICTURES. I COULD HAVE CARED LESS AT THE TIME. NOW SEEING WHAT YOU DO IN YOUR ARTWORK I COULD MAKE SOME BEAUTIFUL WORKS OF ART ALSO.
ReplyDeleteGRANNY
no, I'm not famous but I should be, hahahahaha. i've had some 'almost' famous jobs and worked with some famous people in fashion once upon a time, but I myself am forever locked in anonymity, lol.
ReplyDeleteYOUR WRONG. YOUR FAMOUS TO US HERE ON YOUR BLOG. I FEEL SO HONORED BUT I THINK I ALREADY SAID THAT COMMENT.
ReplyDeleteGRANNY