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There’s Something So Emotive About Old Photographs
It’s much more than the photo
I work as a funeral celebrant, delivering funerals for bereaved families.
Often, as part of the service, the family chooses to have a slideshow of photos of the person who has died.
I sit and watch photos of young men, smiling in their Army uniform, or sitting astride a motorbike, sleeves rolled up, hair slicked back, looking like young film stars.
The ladies stand smiling on their wedding day, clutching a bouquet, wearing a beautiful white dress, or stroll arm-in-arm with friends along the seafront.
Whatever the photo is, is unimportant
It has struck me recently just how emotive each photo is.
They are each a brief moment caught in time. A glimpse into another world. A world we will never be a part of because that second disappeared the moment the shutter clicked.
Of course, all that is clear, but what I think about now are the moments surrounding that brief snapshot.
It’s those moments that make me think, not the photo itself.
Seconds before, someone was saying, ‘Look this way, smile’
