Recently from the WordPress blogs my attention was caught by the post, Spotlight on Street Photography blogs. I have a few old family photos to help organise etc but I remembered one particular photo amongst a lot of gems. A faded stamp on the back of the photo reveals “G. McGrath, p8 Her Majesty’s Arcade, Sydney. Extra copies are available by quoting number”.
Considering the photo was taken around 1945, it is in pretty good nick and a slight fiddle removed a little of the fading towards sepia and put back some black and white.
I can give a few details on this photo because the two snapped walking down one of Sydney’s main streets, maybe George or Pitt, were later to become my Mum and Uncle. Very much a ‘ Back to the Future’ image.
Prior to this post I put the bright lights on Mum and she gave up the following. She doesn’t remember the occasion when it was taken but street photographers were a fairly common breed. A lot of people couldn’t afford cameras of their own and so when approached on the street either agreed to be photographed or not. They were given a card and could order a print if they wanted. She said that this type of photography ran into a bit of trouble and died out maybe 5-10 yrs later. I wonder how this type of photography would, or could, go now?
Whatever the occasion, it is great to look at now. To see the clothing worn, the faces of two girls on the right side of picture watching the shot it seems. Given that my Mum and her brother were from a farm outside Taree and were far from well off, they scrubbed up fairly well I thought. I notice her brother has a tie and/or collar pin, my Mum has gloves. Mum was around 21-22yrs at this time, her brother 3yrs older. I wonder what they were talking about and where they were heading? After all, they were single, they’d left their farm and now lived in the big smoke.
Words for today: Shoulder pads and collar pins.
Everything old is new again.
More to come; same blog time, same blog channel.
Interesting post! What a great story about how the photo was taken! That’s unusual to hear! I absolutely love looking at old photos and asking the same questions about who? what? where? and why? about the timing the photo was taken. Usually some very interesting stories and facts I never knew before surface from these moments. I suppose that’s why photos are so precious! They are memories and stores captured forever! Thanks for a beautiful written post!
By: zoetic * epics on July 5, 2012
at 4:28 am
Glad you liked it. I admit with this shot I have a personal interest in addition to the image standing alone. A Back to the Future photo of my Mum and Uncle adds that little extra for me. I wonder if some of your photos will do the same one day? With permission of course. Bruce
By: Bruce on July 5, 2012
at 9:55 am