I remember flipping through his old black and whites. Delicately turning each page, in awe of every capture. Pictures of places I had never seen. People I didnt know. Sitting still in that moment. I was young. I had no idea that the flutter that I felt within would one day ignite my own passion. I remember the stories of the old photo studio they once owned. Pictures that he took of my Grandma. But I never knew him then. I knew him as Grandpa. The one who would make my ear disappear and reappear like magic. What I would do for the chance to sit and talk about those days.
Then my heart quickly shifts to my other Grandpa. The one I never remember without a camera in hand. His glimpses of candid life were loved by all. As a teen I remember with a heavy sigh having to squeeze in this way or that. But then he would come by with a hand full of pictures and again I was mesmerized. Loved looking at all the moments he had captured. His photos are my favorite. It could be us doing absolutely nothing but now means absolutely everything.
It is funny how life works. How you look back and realize that all along you were being inspired. Both the love of the candid moment and the business of photography were handed down to me as a gift. A gift I cherish deeply.
I got a little package in the mail when I opened the doors to my first studio space. It was from my Grandma and in it was my Grandpa’s camera. The one he had used to take pictures of his family long before I remember. I cried and cried as I held it in my hands. That camera sits prominently in my studio still. I look at it daily and thank my two shinning stars for showing me the love of capturing the moment.
I have wanted to capture his camera for a long time. I couldn’t think of a better way than to place it in the hands of my boys. Mixing my two loves in life, family and photography.
This is a little glimpse of a project I am working on for my new site…
I hope you enjoy it.
Until Soon,
SN
