Don't I Know You?

For a while now I've been randomly collecting photos I find, mostly on the internet, that surprise me by just how "modern" and "alive" they seem.

These jpegs spend some time on my desktop then get filed away. I've never known what else to do with them. I always think, "They look like real people!", as if that is some kind of miracle.

We often get caught up in the trappings of vintage lives. It's hard to sift through stiff poses, tortured hairstyles, and uncomfortable outfits to get to the living, breathing person who blinked after the shutter clicked.

The limitations of early photography are certainly responsible. Try looking lovely while your head and spine are being held in place for your Daguerreotype as was the case in 1840. I imagine the idea of having your picture taken in a studio was always daunting. I remember agonizing over my high school yearbook photo, practicing a smile in front of the mirror for weeks. 

 
An amazing film directed by Peter Jackson came out last year. "They Shall Not Grow Old" is a tribute to his grandfather, who served from New Zealand as a soldier in WWI. Jackson was able, through the miracles of technology, to slow down jerky b&w footage and determine what the soldiers were actually saying. Realistically colored with actors recreating the dialog on the soundtrack, "They Shall Not Grow Old" is moving cinematic time travel.  

The advent of the portable box camera, which turned into the Instamatic, then the Polaroid, then the iPhone makes taking pictures easy and immediate, but don't we all still freeze a bit as we say "cheese"?

These pictures are a wonder to me—a wonder that the person is revealed, and she lives just next door.