The family album
As time passes I find that my eye turns more often to pictures that depict little moments in people's lives. Photographs that capture the tales of a life passing, dreams realised, and those that just got away.
The family album is something we all treasure and is often cited as the item we'd grab if we were allowed to keep only one possession.
Yet, I'd guess we have all seen old family albums for sale at auction, in charity shops or at photographic fairs, and this seems odd, personal pictures so out of context, images of loved ones no longer remembered. How do they get there and what stories do they hold?
Dawn Parsonage is also interested in this field. Indeed she likes to collect things, pictures and children's books anyway. She is the proud owner of a large collection of children's books that were once owned by the late Spike Milligan, including one with an inscription from Peter Sellers.
Fascinating stuff, but of course my interest lies in her growing collection of old family photo albums, not her family you understand, those of strangers.
I asked Dawn to explain why she is drawn to collect other people's pictures:
"I'm fascinated by photography and social history so old photo albums are the perfect marriage of the two. They're windows into a day, a moment, a captured fraction of a second a long time ago that can tell you so much about the person and the time they lived in.
"I've been collecting old photo albums for 10 years now. It all started with a 1930s album and diary of a Brownie leader and her antics on camping trips I found in a market for £8. Some of the pictures are beautiful, some comical and some surprisingly modern.
"After that I kept my eye out for other interesting albums with images that were more than just the snaps on the beach, or pictures of the new baby. I love images that tell a story, which have humour; images that show the personality of the subject or the photographer, bringing the moment to life again.
"I think it's so sad that all these images could so easily have been lost. When I see a ripped album page I wonder what moments have already gone forever, and how long it will be until the photographs I work so hard to create and capture today are forgotten and lost too. I guess there's part of me that holds onto other people's memories and moments to give them a second life.
"I love photographers such as Robert Capa, and I guess these albums do a similar thing to his work, documenting life, but the difference being these were never published.
"In my bookshelves I have the album of a sailor who travelled to the Far East and proud of his ship, the Glaswegian who tried to document his city with the modern technology of photography, the woman who was amazed by the life sized inflatable elephant hovering over the corner shop and a picture of a hideous dress lovingly made and never worn again. I'd love to share all of these images and stories somehow, ideally getting a book together in the future.
"I not only collect these images but I also take photographs in the old way too, with a twin lens camera with no light meter. I guess the exposure the same way as they would have done for most of the images from my albums; this has so far worked well due to the latitude of black and white negative film.
"I love the silence and unobtrusive nature of my old camera, the preciousness of each image in this day of digital. There's something about old techniques that feel warmer, with more of an atmosphere to it, although it's difficult to put you're finger on why I love it so much really."
Indeed, how long before the photographs we all take are forgotten and lost too, and if you follow that through to its conclusion, how long before our lives are forgotten and cast aside at a car boot sale.
It's not just pictures of people, places too, photographs of record that are abandoned without any captions. Can you identify any of these found by Nicky Clark?
Pictures can be cruel, all photographs are in some ways about death, the moment that will never come again, mantelpieces dotted with children's faces, long grown and now hidden in the world.
Clarisse d'Arcimoles, who has just completed a photography course at Central Saint Martins College in London, has attempted to turn back the clock, restaging her own family pictures. The details are exquisite, and each frame took days to plan, yet for all that she notes that "what is being reconstructed is no longer reachable".
These frozen moments also play an important part in shaping our own history and can over time begin to shape our memories. Do we remember the event as it happened, or do we remember it because there is a picture of it?
That of course doesn't only apply to personal pictures, but also the grand moments of history, those split seconds caught by the lens that define whether a moment is important or not, but maybe that's a post for another time.
You can see a selection of the pictures Dawn has collected in a photo gallery here.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~58~RS~)
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Nice little article, though I think you're trying a bit hard when you say "all photographs are in some ways about death".
I think a lot of photos are about sharing happiness - showing friends and families places we've visited, showing distant relatives how the little ones are growing up because people can't just hop on planes from Australia every week, this kind of thing seems to me to be about sharing joy rather than reminding each other of death. I guess it depends on your personal philosophy of life!
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I love photos - but what do you do with them? I have so many albums full of photos hidden away under a bed out of reach. Now and again I get them out and go through them and I love them BUT how often do I do that? Once every 10 years. Photos are your past and of mainly pleasurable events or times but are of no use to others really.
These days the area of photos is so much easier to manage - a digital photo sent over the net to someone far away and then its finished, delete it in the gallery.
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Thank you for posting this article. Just like Dawn Parsonage I am interested in old photographs. So far I have collected some photographs of my great grand parents and their life. Every time I come across an old photo, a feeling of curiosity arises filled with questions and possible answer of the time, the people and their life, but what really fascinates me is the reasons of that capture which wished to memorise that moment forever. Since in the past not many people could afford having a camera, photographs were taken in key moments in life which I think are likely to mirror and represented the individual. I believe that is why old pictures seemed to be more authentic and they seem to have and carry a reason. In the end of the day that remains a memory on a piece of paper, and I respect t it for what it is. We should not get trapped and live in the past.
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I have written books about Plymouth's local history and have been interested in collecting old photos for years. I hope to post tens of thousands of images of old Plymouth on Flickr in the next couple of months. I've made a start and the first few hundred images can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/derektait/
Subjects include people, transport, events, celebrations, the war, entertainment etc.
Many of these images aren't available anywhere else and I think that they will provide a very interesting and useful guide to Plymouth in days gone by.
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Linewall i do not agree that the photos under the bed of the past are of no interest to any one. I have put most of my old photos on Flicker, people flock to see them, after all they are now history. Photos of me as a child 50 years ago not only show me, they show the way we lived, they show cars, houses, fashions,all long gone. People can see the past, without such photographs people would never know what the past was like for ordinary people. You would be dependent on media representations of the world and will all die respect to the media it is rather a biased view.Lets see the photographs taken by the average person of the average person and see how life really was.
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We have acquired several boxes of slides and photographs of my wife's family, some dating back to pre-1900. It's a long-term project to scan all of these in so they can be shared with family members.
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Earlier this year I scanned all the surviving photos from my parents' wedding album, as well as loads more that had been taken when they were kids and also before they were married. There were many more that I'd taken, playing around with an ancient box Brownie as a kid. Now they're all on Facebook for the family - who are spread around the world - to browse through and enjoy. Some of my relatives have been able to identify a few of the people I don't remember, and have even dug out other old photos I'd never seen before and mailed them to me. So I think there's a real benefit in holding onto old photos. Albums are\were fine, but they tend to get relegated to the back of wardrobes - if they're not destroyed altogether. In this electronic age it's the easiest way for me to share the photos with relatives who'd otherwise forget all about them.
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Before the advent of digital photography, film was expensive and limited to the number you could put into your camera. Because of this I used to spend time making sure that the photo I took was the one I wanted. Composition, metering, depth of field, speed - all to consider for the perfect shot. Now that I have a digital camera I wonder if I have become too nonchalant, taking so many pictures that they have ceased to be a "special moment". There is no longer the need to "commit" when you press that button! We have become blase about photographs, they are no longer special because everyone can take a passable picture.
Instant results are brilliant, but the anticipation of the prints arriving has gone - so too have the prints themselves! How many of us actually print a photo any more? Most of them will be lost to hard drive failures and the fact that cd/dvds denature over time.
Also, I don't care what anyone says, there is a real difference between anything digital and the old world of analogue. There is a quality to film which is missing in a digital photo, just like there is a missing quality in digitally recorded sound.
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Anyone interested in viewing old family photos on the web should try this excellent site- www.skarabej.com
Browsing these photos allows a visit to times and places unknown to me. Some of the photos are truly beautiful, many are quite funny and joyful. My thanks to the people who took the time to send in pictures!
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Excellent profile....
~Dennis Junior~
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