The Humble Photograph Album

I have just completed the mammoth task of sorting through our family photographs and putting them, in some order into albums. It was a very satisfying job, although a little frustrating at the end when I found another bag full.

A quick glance shows not only a social history, but how far we have come with technology. The very first “camera” was the camera obscura or the pinhole camera, but it wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that a French man called Joseph Nicephore Niepce began to experiment with saving the image. His partner Louis Daguerre continued with his ideas after Niepce had died, and eventually succeeded in creating the Daguerreotype which is the first practical photographic process. This was not for the man in the street as it required a special camera, copper plates and a toxic mixture of chemicals to develop them. The experiments into capturing images continued and by the beginning of the twentieth century an American entrepreneur George Eastman, had pioneered the use of film with bromide paper to print the images on, and cameras under the trade name of Kodak became available for the general public to buy.

The early photos were black and whites taken with a Box Brownie, one of the most popular early cameras for personal use, it was really a basic cardboard box with a lens. Then came the Brownie 127, which was made of Bakelite and was a lot more sophisticated, but the film was still in black and white.

Of course, it’s the photos themselves that are the real interest because it’s not just a Social History, but a Family History too. How many times have you come across an old photograph of a parent or grandparent and commented on a family likeness, or noticed how your children look just the same as you at a given age? The resemblances are often uncanny and leave you wondering at how certain features are handed down through a family. Even a stance or a look. It makes you ponder how on earth it is possible and how amazing the human anatomy is.

Photographs evoke so many memories and refer to events, some of which took place long before we were born. The stories behind those eyes leave you with the feeling that you would like to know more, and the sad part is that there is often nobody left to ask. I can’t describe how I felt when I discovered that one of my cousins had a whole stack of family photos and as I looked through them my amazement grew. Not just because of the photos either, but because of the stories attached to them. I knew that my grandfather came from the Portsmouth area, and that the family had owned a bakery with multiple shops and delivery rounds, but I was not previously aware that my great grandmother may have had a French connection. She doesn't have the stern matriarchal face of the Victorian era, more wistful I would say and the likeness to my grandad is striking. Amazingly, I do remember seeing her, just the once. I was very young, but even so I can see her in my mind’s eye, getting out of my grandfather’s car. A little wizened old lady, all in black, with a walking stick and a very sharp tongue. She married three times, and happily there is also a photo of my great grandfather in the collection. A rather handsome gentleman with a fine black beard.

The great, great grandparents are there too. There are plenty of photographs of grandad as a young boy, some with his brothers, then with the cycling club that he joined, and later with his regiment. But the one I love is of him in uniform on his horse because that was what he was proudest of. The next treasure was seeing my grandparents at their wedding at the close of World War One and before he went to join the British Expeditionary Force in Northern Russia. Grandad was in uniform, and Grandma wore a beautiful dress in lace. They are looking shyly at the camera in one shot of the two of them, but in the group photo the guests all looked rather stern and there was a noticeable lack of men in the group.

My grandmother and her family also feature in the albums, and there was another story to follow. One of the photos shows her with her parents and two elder sisters, Lily and Maud. Her father was a Church Minister, as were his brother, father and grandfather. All news to me and draws on the question of why people start researching their family trees.

It was interesting to see the story of my family emerge through the photos. Following my grandparents wedding there were one or two pictures of them posing as a young married couple, then came the family. Group photos, children growing up photos. Teenage years having fun with friends at the seaside. Wedding photos follow on, plus the marriage of one of my aunts showing my cousins and I all smartly dressed in our little outfits (and I don’t remember a second of it). Grandchildren are next on the scene (the era of my cousins and I) including one that I am particularly fond of. It is a group family photograph from Grandparents to Grandchildren which shows my mother, centre stage, as a young woman in her twenties, tall and slender. I’m sure that most people have lots of pictures of their mothers, but to me this is special because it is only one of three that I possess.

We have very few photos of my husband’s family, but we do have one super shot of him as a little boy with his grandad, looking golden. An equally angelic one of him as a choir boy resembles both of our sons as children. There is also a super collection of him as a young man out with his mates. They feature holidays in Blackpool and Torquay; and windy camping sites, their first cars, first motor bikes, lots of larking about and young ladies once known. Going through them with old friends causes a lot of hilarity and happy memories.

There are even fewer of me, but I do like the one of me as a teenager, I didn’t realise I had such a good figure back then; where did it go?

Suddenly everything was in colour as we updated our camera for the latest analogue model. The smiling faces were bigger and glossier, the changes in our lifestyle recorded as our own wedding photos were added. The year we went from Land’s End to John O’Groats with a photo under each of the famous signposts. A skiing holiday in Northern Spain where Mags and I built a huge snowman and the locals thought we were barmy. It was probably the carrot for a nose, stones for eyes and the red toothpaste we used to draw a pair of lips that did it. And climbing up to the top of the Olympic Ski Jump in Innsbruck to see what it was like (pretty scary I can tell you).

My lone trip to Egypt is in there too. I went to visit family and met with such kindness that I fell in love with the country and the people.

Other trips abroad are recorded along with riding on a camel in Morocco, and the fabulous reminder of the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles when we went to America. The peace and quiet of an awesome natural beauty in comparison to the tacky, over-the-top city of gaming, but we loved every second of it.

Somehow the best photos are of the children, seeing how they have grown through the years. Their baby pictures, first steps, happy chocolate covered faces, and first days at school. Holidays, and happy days out are faithfully recorded. We spent a lot of time at Scarborough and Sandsend or on the North Yorkshire Moors in those days, walking and picnicking and seemingly the bat and ball always went with us.

France was a favourite destination for a few years with reminders of Quamperle, Benodet and Saumur where the camp sites were so safe that we let the boys have their freedom. Menorca where most of our time was spent in the pool. Later, we found the Netherlands and revelled in the cycling tracks that took us to Leiden, Delft and The Hague. Scotland for a skiing holiday, but there was no snow that year. Bulgaria where there wasn't much more and Andorra where there was too much. We visited so many different countries, so many lovely places and we posed for the camera in them all.

One glaring omission from all the photographs is the date. We always think we will remember everything, but then we are left guessing years later. When did I have that hairstyle? What year did the kids start school? Oh yes, I remember that outfit but when was it? And, do you remember when .....? Sometimes even ages are difficult to determine and instead of providing a clue, just increase the puzzle.

When the digital camera came in there were no films to process, as everything was uploaded to the computer and dates automatically recorded which is great, but it’s just not the same staring at a screen as picture after picture flashes by. As fortune would have it, one savvy entrepreneur realised that people like an album to hold, and browse through, coming up with the idea of simply downloading the photos and making a personal picture book of any, and every family event. You need something to show the new partner, whilst embarrassing your kids, and we've got some great ones. Nothing cuts a person down to size more than a photograph of you as a child wearing a Mickey Mouse hat and a chocolate coated grin.

My latest love is my android phone. Apart from texting and making phone calls, the best feature for me is the camera. To be able to capture an image and immediately check it is quite exhilarating. I like nothing more when I’m out on my bike and I spot a beautiful tree, a

flower or a garden than stopping to take a photograph. If I’m in a hurry, or unable to stop, I will make a mental note and return later hoping that nothing has changed. Then, through the miracle of technology I can crop, enhance and share in an instant on WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook. I’ve even got albums on my phone so that I can easily find photos of the family. Special events like the trip Ian and Maria made to Colombia to visit her parents, Phil and Ellie’s wedding and, of course one album dedicated to each of the pets Gracie and Bee.

I'm not sure when people realised they could take Selfies, but they are a mixed blessing. I have no doubt that it’s fun being able to take your own photo, with or without a stick, but there have been so many deaths caused by doing it which I find rather sad; a moment of fun turned to tragedy. It’s a skill I’ve not really mastered in fact my first experience was very embarrassing. I was exploring the apps on my first android phone and decided to take a photo, but it didn’t seem to be working properly. I thought I would find the answer if I looked at the picture I had taken, but couldn’t find how to get to it. Frustrated, I went into the shop the following day and asked a very nice young man what I was doing wrong. He talked me through it and then we came to the saved photos. Ten of them. I had not realised that the camera was in Selfie mode and there, to my horror, was a series of photos of my nose!

Looking at how it all started I don’t think anybody could have guessed at where we are today. The pleasure and memories that photographs bring us are worth their weight in gold and I’m glad that I took the time to bring mine up to date as it is not easy with our busy lives, to set aside the time to create an album. Which raises the question of what will happen to our on-line, digital photos once our phones and laptops expire? And what will the next step be? Holograms maybe?