Life in pictures. 05/06/03
I spend a large part of the workday scanning and printing photos. Yesterday's images were particularly varied -- I scanned about 30 pictures, including one circa 1976, of guys sprawled about a room snorting coke, and two pictures of "exotic dancers" trying to look desirable in feather boas and vinyl negligees. I am guessing that only the most desperate of men would find these particular hoogas to be attractive, but who knows, maybe the average guy's standards are lower than I realize.
Every day there's a lot of family group photos, wedding couples, graduation pics, school teams, babies, kids playing, surfing photos, landscapes, the occasional dog or cat picture.
To occupy my mind as I work I study them all. I try to guess what year the picture is from. I read the writing on the back. "To Emma, from your sweetheart James" or "1982? My nose looks big in this one" or "Hector Louis Carville, b.1843 d.1925, Grandfather of Walter S."
I scrutinize the faces in family photos, noting that 2 of the daughters have the mother's eyes but the third girl looks more like her father. I see the hairstyles and clothing of each decade and learn that saddle shoes came into style around 1928 and were still popular in 1960. I see how wide-shouldered, narrow-waisted suits were worn in the 40s and again in the 80s.
The earliest dated color photo I have scanned was from 1948. Black and white seems to be more prevalent than color photography until the late 60's. The earliest dated prints of all that I've seen are from the 1860's. Before that came the tintypes, which are a real bitch to scan and the thin sheets of metal bend so easily and scratch the glass of the scanner (yes, I have been scanning tintypes today), the images on them are often too dark to make out much detail, until I can adjust them in Photoshop which sometimes improves it so much that the customer is delighted.
I try to do all my work with that in mind, really -- giving the customer a finished product that is the best quality possible. I just wish my supervisors and co-workers felt the same way. They give lip-service to the concept but the general attitude around here is "Whatever, it's good enough, don't spend the time to make it better."
I feel like I spend my mornings immersed in the memories of others... Here's the wedding picture of Hazel and Joe, taken in 1920. Hesitant smiles and sparkling eyes. They look about 18. Now here's the couple in the 30's, with 5 kids, looking a bit taxed and glad to have a chance to sit down for a while. Then a wedding portrait from the 50's as they stand proudly to either side of their daughter and her new husband. The last image is from the 60's and Joe sits relaxed in the sun with a group of tourists and the Parthenon behind him, Hazel laughing as the wind blows a scarf from her grey hair.
