I don’t know about you, but this Grammy misses candid shots. Today’s “Family Photos” are staged, photoshopped, filled with coordinated outfits, perfect backgrounds, and all look alike to me. I confess, I cannot tell what anyone really looks like anymore.
Don’t get me wrong – these photos are masterpieces of balance, families cascading horizontally or vertically in Technicolor purity, or, in the alternative, posing in rich sienna tones, stray hairs conveniently airbrushed away and blemishes covered with perfect skin. Hundreds of photos are digitally preserved, no need to save film or worry about processing fees. Beaches are popular backgrounds, even in Minnesota, and can be dropped in as casually as a table or a chair.
Any skillful manipulator can maximize kids’ shots by pulling Johnny from this photo and Mary Jane from that one. Mom and Dad, not serene enough in every shot, can also be pulled in from other photos. Aha! Perfection!
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But they just aren’t real. And that’s why I love this photo of my grandparents.
The year is 1917. That’s my grandmother, Momo, in the third year of her marriage to my grandfather, Ed. He’s holding my mom, who is the only member of this photo ;ooking at the photographer, and also the only one still living. She’s 96. My Uncle J.E., a squirming two year old, clearly wants to do anything BUT pose for a photo.
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I will never know who took this picture, or why. Momo has forced a dress-up day, probably for the picture only, because most of the clothes are white, and the dirt isn’t.
It’s the expression on Momo’s face that touches me most, since I know it was she who got everyone dressed and ready for this photo. And I’m also sure she knew one take was all she would get. She’s trying to get my uncle to get interested in anything that might keep him still. What is it? A hawk? A buzzard? Something is clearly “over there”, and she’s saying something to him. Whatever it is, my grandfather decided to look, and then – SNAP – the photo was taken.
Not what she wanted, I’m sure – but what she had to live with. And anyone looking closely can see the personalities of each of them.
Our grandchildren have been mugging for the camera since before they could talk. “SMILE!” their parents yell, and no matter the grief happening on the spot, the chins come up and the mouths spread.
I miss the candid shots. Don’t you?
