I grew up without pictures of my ancestors. We had one photo in the house of my mother’s family, her with her parents and her siblings taken before she left Trinidad. There were no family photo albums to look through.
The photos that I have today have been so very kindly shared by relatives or in some cases (for very early ancestors) found on the internet. Each and every one of these is so precious to me, simply because I didn’t think I would have any.
This week’s #52ancestors prompt is favourite photograph and that left me a bit stumped. I spent so long being grateful for a single photo of an ancestor that I never thought about ranking them. Even now, trying to think of photos that elicit a particularly strong emotion, I come up with several.
So instead of choosing a favourite I thought I’d talk about photos of ancestors in general and what types I particularly like.
As I said any photo is precious, if it’s a clear photo in good condition then that’s even better. Even if it’s not though, technology has come a long way. We’ve recently started restoring some older photos we have been passed. It’s harder when you don’t have access to a high quality scan of an image but it can be done. We (more my husband) recently restored this torn photo of my Trinidadian grandmother, Grace Zaitioon Ali b. 1922, and her mother in law, Mabel Subagia Ramkissoon b. 1885, (my great grandmother). Another photo, of one of my husband’s English great grandfathers, Stephen Andrew Gibbs b. 1888, just needed a bit of lightening. Suddenly we could see the resemblance to living relatives. We’re still new to this but it’s very exciting to be able to improve the quality of photos.
Top row: Mabel Ramkissoon and Grace Ali courtesy of R. Seecharan
Bottom Row: Stephen Gibbs courtesy of M. Gibbs
When you have been able to restore a photo it brings such a sense of joy every time you look at it. It’s like rediscovering one of your ancestors’ stories, you’re seeing details of this scene in a way no other living person has, and now you can share it with others.
Aside from the quality there is also the content. A lot of photos, especially older ones, have stern faced ancestors looking back at you. Photography was expensive and saved for special events. Some might have only been photographed once in their lives (and sadly many never were).
It’s rare in older photos but I love to see a bit of cheekiness in a photo, a sly grin, a twinkle in the eye. Something that again adds to the picture of who that ancestor was. My husband’s uncle recently shared a family photo taken of the Finnish family. It shows my husband’s grandfather, Kaarlo Johannes Tukia b. 1917, and 4 of his younger brothers as children. Everyone has that stern look for the camera except for one of the boys who looked to be full of joy. Every childhood photo of this family I have seen has this boy, Eino Arvid Tukia b. 1919, smiling at the camera. I look at it and can’t help but wonder if he inherited that from his mother, who you see smiling in other similar photos, if their personalities were similar and which living descendants have those same traits.
The Tukia boys, (from left to right) Tuure, Urho, Toivo, Eino and Kaarlo. Courtesy of J. Tukia
From more recent times you start to see more casual photos, snapshots of gatherings, cooking, engaging in hobbies and leisure. Again these all add to the story of who these ancestors were.
When trying to think of a favourite I did keep circling back to one particular photo, which I got from my aunty in Trinidad. It shows my grandmother, Grace Zaitoon Seecharan nee. Ali b. 1922. Grace was the daughter of Sadar Ali, a sewing machine repair man. She grew up to be a seamstress, earning some money for the family by sewing wedding dresses. I know nothing of her mother. Grace married James Seecharan and had 10 children. She was often very serious in photos, though there are some of her cooking and smiling. I sadly never got to meet her, my first trip to Trinidad was for her funeral. But in this photo, standing with her sisters, she is filled with such joy. I don’t know what had just happened or what was just said, but even looking at it many, many years later the humour and joy makes me smile with them. It is infectious across time and space.
The Ali girls, (from left to right) Majeedan, Ajeedan and Grace Zaitoon. Courtesy of S. Seecharan
The ability of a photo to put us so in touch with our ancestors is amazing.
Genie Dans
