"Mom's film"

<p><a href="http://westfordcomp.com/foundfilm/floridamomjan2011/oneandtwo.html">A different sort of found film.</a></p>

<p>Wonderful, thoughtful stuff. I love these pictures, and you're right to speak of a vulnerability there. I like the picture of the girls as ballerinas. Five more rolls? Can't wait. Thanks so much.</p>

<p><em>Dear Gene,</em><br /><br /><em>I can't even express what this means to me. I read the whole intro and then very slowly rolled down the page. I broke down and sobbed as soon as I saw the first image. That's my brother Bill (the shepherd); he's 2 years older than me. My Mom made those curtains. We had a pretty snazzy house back in the 50's, eh? We lived on a river (my sister bought the house so it's still in the family) and it was originally a cottage, so that knotty pine paneling was all over the house.</em><br /> <br /><em>The third picture down, the little girl holding the birthday cake is yours truly! Mom baked outrageously fluffy and fun birthday cakes. Believe it or not, I didn't know you could have cake other than for birthdays until I was a teenager.</em><br /> <br /><em>The two girls in ballet poses... that's me on the left and my older sister Mary on the right. I sure do remember those tutus. I was about 4, I believe, so that picture is about 1957. Mom made those tutus.</em><br /><br /><em> I LOVE the edited picture! That is my sister Barb who was always scruffy in any picture I ever saw her in! She's meticulously neat now. Ha!</em><br /><br /><em>I thought you'd appreciate hearing my reaction. I guess I was crying just for the sheer joy, but also because my Mom never got to see these pictures. It's tough, but I can image the joy this will bring when I share these with my siblings. I don't know how to do it yet... I'm thinking I'll wait until the entire series is done. I hope you have just as much luck with the next batch.</em><br /> <br /><em>Again, I can't thank you enough. I don't know what else I can say.</em><br /><br /><em>All my thanks</em></p>

<p>She was lucky to find you, how did that happen?</p>

<p>Great stuff. And yes a 'different sort of found film'.</p>

<p>That's a very moving post of resurrected films. Thanks for sharing. I think I'm going to give a call to my grandma today...</p>

<p>Wonderful, and moving...The circumstances of the films delivery and the reaction from your correspondent lift the whole episode into a dimension above the mere "found film" concept. Many thanks to you both, for sharing something precious.</p>

<p><strong>Gene</strong> - that was very very moving. Thank you for posting that.</p>

<p>I have to add - the line about digital cameras lessening the value of photography is very true in my opinion. I think that's why I love to shoot with film. I don't get the same sense of joy from a great digital photograph I take than with a terrible film photograph.</p>

<p>Wow. Her mother was a good photographer. Those pictures must be like buried treasure for the family. Good work!</p>

 

<p>"She was lucky to find you, how did that happen?"<br>

Google</p>

 

<p><a name="00Y35w"></a></p>

<p>Gene, these are beautiful. I hope the anonymous owner somehow gets to see that her mom's Found Film cheered us up, too. I was just saying in your last Found Film post that it would be nice to know how the people in the photos turned out. I hope that she lets you share the other rolls with us, if appropriate. Time travel, indeed.</p>

<p>Very moving, and very wonderful! Thanks for the inspiring post!</p>

<p>Gene - thanks for helping the lady out. Reconnecting to the past gets increasingly important when people get near the social security age, and too often others are too preoccupied to help out like you did. Looking forward to future rolls.</p>

<p>It is particularly nice when you can bring back childhood memories for people who are many years from their childhoods (I can relate).</p>

<p>I'm getting all misty! Great series!</p>

<p>Wonderful post, Gene, very moving indeed.<br>

I'm glad for the Lady and her family that you've managed to save their forgotten memories.</p>

<p>An aunt of mine recently scanned all the photos from an old family album, I saw pictures of my grandfather and dad I had never seen before...It's not quite 'found film' but gave me a similar feeling like when I read your posts:<br>

<img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/HvN13.jpg" alt="" /><br>

My grandfather on the right, 1939-1940, in his Royal Dutch Army uniform during the mobilisation</p>

 

<p>Very sweet.</p>

<p>Wonderful. <em>Vulnerability</em> is exactly the right word for so much of your outstanding series, especially touching here with the reaction of the people in the family.</p>

<p>Good for you!</p>

<p><em>"Among civilized people, family is a sacred thing. I think it's the only truly sacred thing. When someone tells you about a member of their family, even if you don't know them, you listen with appreciation. Because, it's family."</em></p>

<p>Truer words were never spoken, Gene. Sometimes I get all wrapped up in technical aspects of film and cameras and lenses that I lose sight of the power of photographs in preserving cherished family memories. None of the shots you posted is necessarily artistic or technically correct, but the simple beauty of those domestic scenes reminds me of why I love photography. Thank you for sharing. </p>

 

<p>Great stuff as usual. Can't wait for the next two rolls.</p>

<p>Wow.. I'm beyond words! Very moving and like Stuart, I'm rather touched. So many truths here!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>This is so moving...and reminds me that if I were to be jolted awake to the sound of the smoke alarm, what I would try to rescue second (after family and pets) would not be the quarter million negatives, nor the fifty thousand slides, nor the photo gear (including some irreplaceable and patented camera prototypes I've designed)....it would be the cardboard box, on a shelf in my darkroom, which contains photographs - mostly drugstore processed point and shoots - from my childhood in the fifties through my own kids growing up. These mementos have become, like family has always been...beyond priceless. </p>

<p>...and I, too, worry about the digital record. True, digital point and shoots abound in huge numbers, and there certainly exists, in the "digital ether," an extraordinary record of family...both singular and collective...as we all move forward. But what about that shoe box?</p>

<p>Gene, it's heartening to know this world contains such generosity as yours. You turn scant hope into joy for others looking for help.</p>

<p>Related to the posts above, in the past year I've ended up crossing paths with, and reconnecting with, two former loves from high school. And what was one of the things that really had us laughing and smiling? The photos of us, together, from 1979-1980. Young adults, entire lives ahead of us.</p>

<p>In both cases, I followed up those old photos with new ones. So with both these special people, I have photos of us arm in arm, 30 years apart. Those photos, old and new, I treasure almost as much as those of my son, my parents, and my present love.</p>

<p>There's just something about a photo....</p>

<p>Gene, you are a true gem. There aren't to many people out there who would do what you did for this person. Your compassion is matched by you wonderful photographic skills. So many memories, so much treasure. Nice job.</p>