I love photography and have spent hours during my life pouring over them, both my collection of photographs and those of others. A deep root of this love comes from my cousin Sandra and also a love of History. Sandra has taken some of the most spectacular outdoor photos I have ever seen. And I’m not saying that because she is kin to me. They are remarkable photos that draw you in and make you feel like you were on the hike with her.
My momma and Sandra’s momma were sisters. Anthony’s. Sandra has taken hundreds and hundreds of photos of the Anthony family throughout the years. A favorite activity is to look through the photo albums she brings to family reunions each year. I truly have had every hairstyle ever thought of!
I enjoy looking at photos on display at various competitions, mostly at county fairs. The Knoxville Fair has a photography competition each year. I pour over the display looking and searching for what I believe is the winner. We were not able to go to the fair this year as I wasn’t feeling well. I missed being my own private judge. Chris and I did manage to go for a few hours last year, even though I was taking chemo. The displayed competition left me quite disappointed. A first. There were an awful lot of “real” photos “doctored” up by computers. Or not really doctored but changed into the look of computer generated. More than I wanted to see. Just like a woman “doctored” by makeup artists, hairstylists and finally computers in a magazine page, these photos were ruined. So many in so many of the different divisions. From farm, to family, to outdoor, to animal they were spread. Not in a separate division for fake photos. No, they were combined in amongst the real.
Two of my favorite photos of all time are not doctored. They are of two astonishing women; amazingly strong women, two of the most beautiful women in the world, ever.
I cannot remember the first time I saw each of the photographs. Perhaps it was when I was small in a History book? Or in a library? Or a classroom? It certainly wasn’t during the computer era. Thank goodness. The photos would have been destroyed by Photoshop, their creator believing they were improving their work.
The first is called “Migrant Mother” or “Mother of Seven Children” by Dorothea Lange. I think the woman was 32 years old. Now don’t go thinking I am so smart for knowing the details. I just looked those up a minute ago. All the years I’ve spent loving that photo I never knew the name or details. I just knew it was a woman, younger than her face shows, with three children during the Great Depression.
Why am I drawn to this picture? Is it because within me has been the desire to be a social worker my entire life? Perhaps this photo represents all of what working and helping others comprise? Poverty, hunger, lost children, depression, hopelessness, fear….
Or perhaps the love of this photograph has grown within me over the years because it so reminds me of the Anthony and Maynard family photos? The picture looks like it belongs within our family photo albums. It’s a history I am proud to be part of. A history link, that because of my age, many do not realize. I was an oops baby; a late in lifer. I cannot remember the times depicted within photos such as this. But my parents knew. Hearing stories about my parent’s childhood always intrigued me. I loved hearing them. Still do. Being a history buff is part of it. But the pride I spoke of is more.
The second photos is “Afghan Girl” by Steve McCurry. Once again I had to research the details of the photograph, never knowing the exact roots.
I always have wondered what the girl was thinking. Her eyes. They are haunting. Such distrust and apprehension etched upon her face, in those eyes. The girl was 12 years old. But just like others with a hard history she appears older than she is. She was a refugee. The photo was taken in 1972-when I was one.
Why has this photo always drawn me? Is it the desire I’ve had since I was small to travel abroad and help others. Or is it just curiosity? Perhaps I was around the same age as this girl when I saw the photo? Such a different girl than I; a different life lived in a faraway land. A land and culture completely opposite that of Soak or Corntassel or Hopewell in East TN. I could only imagine what her life was like and still can only imagine.
Both photos of are women, girls. Perhaps that is a reason they both draw me. The two photos were taken in different times, different circumstances, but same subject. The plight of women; the plight of those in need. Both ratted and tatted.
The only thing I certainly know about these two photographs is that I am happy there was no computer editing process as in today’s age. It's not about cleaning up life. It's about capturing it.
October 19, 2011
