other people's photos

 I bought some of my best photos recently at the White Elephant Sale.  I've kept them on my desk for the last couple weeks because I hadn't yet fully taken them all in. 

It's a doubley-good find if there's something written on the back, as well, but as luck would have it only one of these has the scrawl of someone's thoughts...

she sure was good

one of the best sentiments on the back of a photo I've seen in a long time.

I like not having any clue to shots that are set up like this one.  Why is that woman in the window? Is she just a neighbor? His mother? How long did it take him to get his hair that high?  Were Dobermans (whoops! German Shepards! thank you!) considered dangerous back then?  Who's taking the photo?

and I love having a series of the same person, especially as they age.  I have about four or five people, in all the photos and photo-books I've collected, whose complete life is laid out before me. I watch them age through each stance they take:  childhood, first loves, divorces, second spouses, growing older all the while.

And then, there's just the simple snapshot

each person lost in their own thought.