By CathyLAnderson | February 06, 2010 at 01:41 PM EST | No Comments
Women in Amateur/vernacular photography
I am going to start this blog with a picture:
I love this picture because it depicts the women I knew as a child. Hard working, homesteaders who made what they could of a 'hard scrabble life. In a continuing series on this blog I hope to illustrate, talk about, and invite you to comment on what you see in these pictures. Each of these pictures provide a window, a vignette if you will, into the lives of women as they took care of their families, made a living, and made "ends meet."
This blog is a journey. My journey and the journey of women as they made their way in the world and left their indelible marks upon the the lives their children, their friends and their spouses.
In the picture below we see two little girls. What dreams did they have, what were their lives like? Where did they live and what did they do? These stories are lost to the ages, what remains is their indelible image in this photograph. I have scanned this image and hundreds like it in anticipation that I will review each and present it here as well in my gallery in Second Life where you may purchase a copy of it for you own use.
What story would you tell of these two girls? There clothes seem to be of high quality as is this photo. They have jewelry on is it logical then to assume that they come from a family with money? They are obviously sisters what can we tell regarding their ethnic origin?
Maybe they grew up to be cowgirls like the two women in the picture below. Lured by the romanticism of the west women came with their families, on their own and with friends to homestead, start businesses and marry.
Perhaps they achieved a level of fame like Calamity Jane because of their adventures in the West. Regardless of their reasons and perhaps even their stature in life their lives in the west were probably not easy. The work was hard and they faced a myriad of hazards from disease, childbirth, loneliness,and completing tasks that seem simple to us such as cooking, taking care of animals, and travel.
My own family homestead in northeastern Wyoming near Sundance and northwestern South Dakota north of the Black Hills. Both of my grandmothers established their own homesteads. I grew up on the ranch that my maternal grandmother and grandfather once owned. This ranch was north of where my great grandmother originally homesteaded after divorcing my great grandfather.
These pictures tell a story. Of lives lived well, of lives lived hard, of the dreams of women for a better life and lives lived selflessly.
Of the photographs I can illustrate to you what I see, the story I believe it is telling. Or I can let your draw your own conclusions. Are they married? Brother and Sister? If they were married did how long were they together, and did they live a happy life? Did they laugh a lot or cry alot? Why was the photo being taken on this day, what is the significance of it? What do you know of the people in your family who came before you? Is it important?
Many of the women you will see in these photos will be seen in their kitchens or in a work setting. This untold story of their contribution to the building of this country is vital to understanding our today. Truth be told, in my opinion it is not always the ideal ..that in past mom was always at home with a plate of cookies and milk for little Johnny when he returned home. Chance are she had a full day of work, of labor, or making sure that she contributed to the family income in some way.
But it was as mother, as wife, as working woman, and as farmer that these women left their mark on us, on this world and future worlds.
So I invited your comments here, your thoughts, your observations. What dreams do you recall, the stories you heard from those women who left their mark up your life and your world.
