As I commented on the Red Tree Times blog post, I always equate 19th century photography with horrendous civil war victims or cowboys without smiles.
But take a look. The real beauty of this image is that it portrays both beauty and sadness simultaneously.
Similar thoughts went through my mind after scanning some 20th century pictures for the book, A Girl From the Hill. My mother-in-law stated it accurately as she looked at some of the old pictures with me.
“You can see that this face is different. Still beautiful, but she’s lived through something, and it shows.” Pictures of my mother.
What do you think when you look at her as a young girl of twenty then an older woman in her 30’s? Does this happen to all of us regardless of the trials we endure?
- Young and in love 1943
- Testa’s dining room on Dover Street late 50’s – My mother on the far left
Related articles
- Juliet Margaret Cameron- Sadness (redtreetimes.com)
- More hidden mothers in Victorian photography: post-mortem photographs or not? (ridiculouslyinteresting.com)
- Ghost Photography of the 19th Century (neatorama.com)
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