Sad to think that somehow, someone's photo has become lost, or some relative no longer values the people and stories that have been photographed, and the photos then become a commodity.
How can one put a price on a domestic familial photo? To the people photographed, they should be priceless; to everyone else, they should be worthless.
So when I saw this photo for sale ...
And the accompanying card ...
I couldn't let them both languish unwanted ... if only just to save them and give them some kind of recognition.
Here is a mother with her new born, yawning baby; it doesn't get much more personal.
I can't believe this image could have been so carelessly lost or discarded ...
Apart from that, it's a great pod-type chair.
And see this below? It's wonderful Dutch Dekoplus curtains which my mother gave me a few Christmases ago.
I just now pulled them out of the cupboard. I wish I could hang them somewhere. Amazing how curtains can cheer me up!
Photo Fin!
I have a habit of buying other people's photos at the oppy because it makes me so sad to find them there.
ReplyDeleteHow very sad....but you MMMC, gave it a happy ending. And the curtains are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI have a bit of a soft spot for collecting old photographs of other peoples families too. I guess they end up there from deceased estates. It's heart breaking to think that there was no one left to want to savor those memories.
ReplyDeleteYour really should hang those fabulous curtains up you know! They don't do anyone any good languishing in a cupboard.
Years ago I found a lovely 1930's photo of a young girl sitting on a log over a creek waiting for something/ someone. It had a great bone frame so I bought it. It always reminds me of one of those high school essay topics where you have to write a story leading up to the picture or starting at the moment itself. I feel I know her quite well now although I have no idea who she is.
ReplyDeleteWendy,
ReplyDeletewhat do you do with them when you bring them home?
MCM, curtains are great! I don't usually buy other people's photos. I'm going to try to avoid stumbling upon them. Or I may end up like Wendy and Estelle - buying them all!
Estelle, I may have to knock a hole in the wall for the curtains to cover.
AA, that's exactly what these old photos are used for! I'd forgotten those essay questions. I hope none of my family photos end up being the prompt for an English exam!
It is sad to think that old photos can be sold off. I'm not sure if that babies yawning or gasping for breath. Is that a full ashtray on the table? Sad the curtains are residing in a cupboard. They're great! We have old lady curtains, not of the groovy variety either.
ReplyDeleteR&S,
ReplyDeleteyou're right! That does look like an ashtray! That mother threw the photo away to discard of the evidence!
If you want sad, try searching on Flickr for post mortem photos. Nothing can be more sad then these photos of mainly little babies & children. I would never have even known these kind of photos existed had I not seen an episode of The Collectors. The collection belonged to a lady who came across some in an op shop and thought they deserved some dignity and bought them. She now has a huge collection. So, so sad but I can imagine, back in the "olden days" when infant mortality was a part of life, I suppose this was the one and only chance a family had of remembering that child. :-(
ReplyDeleteI love those curtains. They ought to be used somehow, somewhere...
ReplyDeleteLove that card. I have a baby - where's my pod-type chair?
ReplyDeleteHang those curtains on the wall - or frame bits of them.
Ah, old photos can very easily become a habit. Once we were on holiday in Cornwall (UK) and saw tons of stuff on the pavement outside a house with a sign saying, 'Please help yourself' -- this only happens once in a lifetime, I think. There were five or six photo albums, so I took them, just to save them, really, as I feel the same way you do. While we were standing outside the house, wondering how much junk we dared to take, the lady of the house came out and I couldn't resist asking her why she was parting with all these photos and other personal stuff. Turned out, it was her ex-husband's and she was moving on, couldn't wait to be shot of it all. I still feel odd when I look through his photos -- there was a tissue with a lipstick kiss on it hidden behind one photo!!
ReplyDeleteLittleMiss A-G,
ReplyDeleteI've sat through a number of post-mortems. I don't think I'll be looking at any photos of! Though your point is sad ... I think I saw that episode too.
Brismod, I know. I know.
Zigsma,
take up smoking. You may get a pod chair.
Jane,
how I laughed conspiratorially when I read about the lipstick on the tissue! Ha! How corny! Sneaky ex.
Oh no! I hope no one thinks I'm some weirdo now ;-)) I should have stated that the post mortem photos aren't of the CSI variety. They usually involve a baby dressed beautifully in a crib or in its mothers arms looking peaceful. Other times the child/baby is surrounded by its siblings. You can tell they're post mortem (I don't like that term) photos rather than the typical family photo because back in 'the old days', exposure time was long for a photo so the chances of photographing a baby with its eyes open was difficult, but if they're not blinking ... I really find the whole concept fascinating but really, really heart-breakingly tragic at the same time.
ReplyDeleteLittleMiss A-G,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. It is extremely sad, but very important for the family, and the mother, to have something tangible to hang onto. I'm sure those photos are still taken every day. (I'm off to kiss my sleeping baby).
that photo of mother and babe reminds me of a photo of my grandmother holding my mother, in exact pose, smile and hairstyle, sans yawn and pod chair. beautiful photo and card to match. i feel the same about old found photos. when i see piles of them at an antique store i feel like i need to frantically find their families.
ReplyDeletethe curtains are wonderful too!
Discarded photos are sad. Your curtains are lovely. Do knock out a hole somewhere and put them up. I read your last post before this one so please ignore the comment!
ReplyDeleteYours in back to front,
I think 'littlemissairgap' is weird! No, I'm kidding! I had a collection of those myself, all taken by the same photographer. Turned out that a museum was searching for his work, all the originals had been burned (!!!) after his death. They now hang in the museum; feels good!
ReplyDeleteEbay is full of unwanted photographs; it's sad. Hope those peple were treated better while they were living.
Is that fabric vintage? Looks very much like one my grandmother had somewhere; tablecloth I imagine.
Chris & I just had a discussion about old photos & things with our neighbor. He just opened a vintage store & has had lots of photos & old wallets w/info given to him. It is sad. I have to admit though, in college- I used to use old photos that I found at thrift stores in collages & paintings. So I would be one of those people that would buy them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, LOVE those curtains!