The first image is of my mom's family from 1959. By the time I was born, my grandparents had divorced, so I was never with both of them at the same time. To me, it represents the American family of the 1950's: my Gran's bangs, the kids all together and so excited, the furniture, and almost everyone smiling.
Black and white images seem to always reflect a sort of dream though, like the dream sequence in a movie. They are equally historical fact and non-reality. I was heartbroken when it got damaged, but it has since taken on a meaning of its own since the my uncle Jimmy (the boy on the left) was always the black sheep and actually was killed in 1984 at the age of 32.
I think this picture is so important to me because it captures my past. It's a past I never knew, but one which Americans are constantly reminded of, a myth of innocence and prosperity.
A myth. My grandparents fought terribly. There is a famous family story of the Whataburger that was thrown across the living room and slid down the wall. My grandparents were both too pissed and proud to clean it, and the kids were too scared, so the stain remained there until they moved out of the house.
This second image is of my other grandparents. They were the opposite of, but probably as mythical as my mother's family. I have been sort of mystified by this image since I discovered it in a drawer my grandma kept of old photos. It looks like a film still. My grandma had to tell me that the man was my grandfather and that was it was her behind him.
As much as the other picture represents the 1950's, to me this is 1940's America: the young attractive sailor possibly getting off a train, and a young woman behind him. It almost appears as if they haven't met, but we can imagine him opening a door for her and they look into each other's eyes. If he bent her down to kiss her, it could be the famous V-J day image of the sailor and the nurse in Times Square.
My memories of my grandparents feed into the myths I choose to believe in this image. To me, they were the picture of true, unconditional love. They were both hilarious and independent. They played off each other with witty comments while discretely showing a deep affection and respect for one another. Like this picture, I'm sure that much of it was simply a snapshot in a long complex life together.
2 comments:
I treasure pictures of my family, my parents and sisters, of my son and my life as a married woman, as such, past bits of reality that meant something before and mean differently today. The snapshot catches the moment, the essence and the emotion within. But what is the meaning that we make of these photographs? of these moments? is the meaning before the experience, or the other way around? I think sometimes, the experience precedes the meaning and it is up to the circumstances of the situation when its the opposite. It is a matter of perception and consciousness to give meaning and have it changed, it's emotional, it evolves and shows how limited beings we are.
Cala, I have a picture of my grandparents right after my Granpa got back from the war. He's hugging her very close, and she's got this really cute, almost wicked smile on her face...I like to imagine her as a peppy, sarcastic woman who completely charmed my grandpa with her wit. And he just looks so proud to be with her and home...it's that same sort of mythmaking about old love that you talk about in your entry...when I too know their lives were much more complicated!
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