Still Crazy After All These Years

Mar 26, 2012

Still Crazy After All These Years

Photographer unknown. This was R. and I.'s original Wedding photo, and the only copy; I photographed it to preserve it for the future.

R. has been my student this last term, and he's been enthusiastic about learning photography; it's always a pleasure to have him in class. A couple of weeks ago he mentioned that he'd like to rent the studio to make some pictures for his 50th wedding anniversary. Ladies and gentlemen, I've only been married eight years, but one thing I've learned is that there is a time for self portraits, and a time for hiring the right person for the job. I suggested to Robert that perhaps I could make pictures for he and his wife; I may well have saved this marriage for one more year.

Anyway, they were wonderful. I. brought their original wedding picture from when they were married in Holland in 1962. She said that she has always loved this pose, and wanted me to recreate it if possible. Then, as we were making pictures, she mentioned that R. has a photo in his wallet that he has had there since 1963. This I had to see! Needless to say, it has probably seen better days. So, I recorded this one for them, too.

Photographer unknown. It's been in R.'s wallet for 49 years.

Actually, I'm not really recording it for them--they've seen them, they've had them hanging in their home (or squished in his wallet) for fifty years. I'm interested in photographing their photographs so that their great-grandkids will know what they looked like!

I. told me that they have not had a professional photograph made since that day in 1962, and I'm so glad that they allowed me to make these new images for them. I really think it's important to have the history, to have the images that show who you were--both for yourself as well as your posterity.

Have a look at this little slideshow, and a few of my favorite images below.