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| from the web |
As I have mentioned before, I got my love of photography from my dad. Although my parents were not well off back in the forties and fifties, my dad did own a camera. It was one that opened up with bellows. He took photos of our Migration to Australia and of our Settling in Australia, which are in my first book.
At the end of 1959 my mum made me a new dress to wear to the end of year dance, which is now called the school formal. My dad took some photos of me. He made me pose this way and that and I was feeling embarrassed. I was happy when it was over.
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| Mum and dad on the ship coming to Australia 1949. Dad has his camera case over his arm. |
A few weeks later the photos had been printed. Remember those days when you had to wait ages to get the prints. (My dad would have loved the digital age, he passed away in 1983.) We had a friend visit and my dad was showing him the photos he took of me, he was quite proud of them. Our friend, John, said that he could take better photos and so a friendly rivalry began. I was the guinea pig. So John asked me to pose this way and that and smile. Now I had just been told that I had missed out on a place in Teachers' College and I didn't feel like smiling and posing for anybody but I did.
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| Dads photo. Dec 1959 (17yrs) |
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| John's Photo. Jan 1960, (17 yrs) |
Hello ! I can totally relate to the first few lines you have written here- I also got my passion for photography from my dad , in the early 80 s ( I was born in 1978) he owned the only camera in town !
ReplyDeleteIn my blog, I write on fashion, food , photography and other random stuffs. You may like to pay a friendly visit someday ! All the photos in my blog are captured by me ( sometimes by my husband ) . I really appreciate your photographs on nature, which you posted on your previous post. They are amazing.
Have a nice day !
Oh, that must have been terrible to pose between the two rivals, so funny story. My father used to photograph too and we have many photos of ourselves which is very nice afterall. He even had the same camera as yours, but probably they all looked like this at that time. I always found it magic to unfold the camera and look in that tiny glass eye. I own the camera now.
ReplyDeleteI prefer your Dad's photo. My Dad was not so much into photography but became very keen on processing film in his later years. He too passed away before personal computers became ubiquitous and digital cameras. I know he would have loved them both and I am sure my Mum would have fallen in love with the Internet.
ReplyDeleteOne of the wonderful benefits of having a parent engaged in photography, is that you have such a record of your childhood. Wonderful resource ...
ReplyDeleteAs Julie said........! Bellows camera is interesting in so far as I don't think they were used much here. Was a Box Brownie in use in England in numbers like it was here. Given the age you were when you left, it is a challenging question.
ReplyDeleteI got my Box brownie when I was about 15 in Sydney but I have read of bloggers who also had Box Brownie cameras in other parts of the world.
Deletei think dad was the winner, great story wonderful memories. mother had a brownie box camera, she got it in 1953. yes i do remember waiting for those prints.
ReplyDeleteFunny shots! My Dad too was the one that got me interested in photography.
ReplyDeleteCan't choose, both look lovely!
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ReplyDeleteLovely shots Diane, I got my love of photography from my Dad too and he had a very similar camera. I posted about it here: http://anenglishgirlrambles.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-dads-old-camera.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my recipe post. I am sure you can use another kind of rice in this recipe and it would be just as delicious, or even more so. It's fun to play around with an original recipe and tailor it to your own taste. Happy Easter!
What a GREAT story! And the visuals are wonderful. You sure haven't changed much over the years. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteNow let me tell ya, that first photo brought back some memories. See, when I was just a wee chicklett I won one of the very first Polaroid Instant (not so instant) cameras for my dad and gave it to him for Father's Day.
ReplyDeleteI still have that old camera. It resides in the top of my closet.
Loved both the rival shots sweetie!
God bless ya and have yourself a magnificent Easter Week!!!
Great pics Diane. You have a lovely blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Diane, great post and story. I love both photos, they are lovely.
ReplyDeleteYou are such a CUTIE PIE!!! Look at that smile! My Dad's hobby was photography, too. I loved it when we had "family picture nights" and we'd watch his slides.
ReplyDeleteOMG - The second version/coming revival of Shirley Temple!
ReplyDeleteExcept for the ageing wrinkles and the now straight white "coloured" hair, you do not seem to have changed that much!
Well done and also to the lotions that you obviously use??????? ha ha!
I have had no access for 24 hours to my BLOODY computer! All now fixed - overheated! And at my age???? The so-called "pecs" and the 6 pack body don't appear in front of bathroom mirrors anymore - sob sob!
Cost only $40 to be on air again!
Cheers
Colin (HB)
My father too loved photography. It's amazing how much your eldest daughter looks like you ! I like both pictures !
ReplyDeleteWaiting for the pictures! Oh my how we would watch the mailbox every day and then finally they would arrive and the fight would start about who got to look at them first. :)
ReplyDeleteYou were a very pretty young lady as can be seen in the photos.
Both pictures are good but I think your Dad wins. While I love your expression in John's photo I think your face has too much light on it.
I've noticed in all your photos of growing up you always have a lovely smile.
You must have been a happy young lady.
As lovely then as now -- and oh gosh your daughters do so look like their mother. You smiled beautifully for someone who wasn't going through the happiest days ... your 'inner child' must have sensed all the good things that were going ot happen ;>)
ReplyDeleteMy dad bought a camera when he was in London in th e50s, You could fold it back to a rectangle, a bit like your dad's.
ReplyDeleteLook at you! You're georgeous! Great shots!
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