I was browsing the beautiful photos over at JoyfulJones.com and came across some pics of the most precious baby. To take the photos, Lisa (Jones) had lain the baby in her great-grandmother’s chair, a family heirloom passed down through the generations.
I love this idea of using “props” in your photography to connect the generations of your family. And I realized I had been doing this for years.
When my oldest daughter had her Senior portraits done, she wore my mom’s class ring on her right hand and my class ring on her left. I thought that was the coolest thing! My mom graduated high school in 1957 and my daughter graduated in 2007, exactly 50 years later.
And it’s not just “things” that connect us. We all go through common experiences throughout our lives and the photos documenting them can connect us to others.
For instance, we all get our Senior portraits taken, so I created a LO for my daughter’s graduation album using the Senior portraits of my mom, me, and my daughter. (I wish I had included journaling about how we each experienced this event.)
Hopefully, years from now, my daughter will appreciate the page, and feel connected to me and her grandmother. And realize that, yes, we were 17 once, too!
And of course, I’ve used hand-me-down clothing to connect.
A funny story about that.
When my youngest daughter was about four, I sent a roll of film off to get developed (remember the “film” days?), along with another roll that I had found in a drawer.
I had no idea what was on the second roll or how old it was. I wasn’t sure if the pictures would be any good but I sent the roll off anyway.
Imagine my shock when I got back both rolls with these pictures! The current roll had pictures of my youngest playing dress-up (on the right), and the other roll had pictures of my oldest daughter (on the left) at the same age, wearing the same dress! The picture had been taken over six years before!
This was one of the first instances where I realized our photography can capture the every-day things that connect generations, how we do the same things but do them differently. And how we are similar to those (like our parents) who we think we have nothing in common with.
I now look for those commonalities, those ties to the past and the future. Makes me feel kind of immortal. *wink*
