Thursday, July 19, 2012

Family History II


i've posted some old family photos from my mother's side on this blog before, but during a recent trip to canberra to visit my dad's side of the family, i managed to borrow and scan some old photo albums from the other side of my family. above is my aunt on her wedding day, my pop (my dad's father) and my pop (third in on the left) in poland just after the end of WWII (1945).

it's a little known fact about me but i am actually half polish, though i've never been there and my nanna is the only member of my family who can speak polish (my pop passed away when i was 12). my grandparents migrated to australia with their three young children after the war and started a new life in australia. i don't really have a strong sense of being polish, but when it comes to filling your plate up even when you refuse seconds, my nanna is definitely european!

while looking through the albums, i found almost an entire album filled with photos of funerals. some were in poland and some in australia, and almost all of them were open casket, including my own pop's funeral. it's know it seems like such a morbid thing to take photos of and it would seem out of place if someone did that at a funeral in australia, but we asked my nanna and she said people took photos of the dead to send to family who couldn't be at the funeral. i find the photos fascinating aesthetically and i really liked looking through them. i thought they might be a bit confronting for this blog so instead i've uploaded a few here, here and here if you're interested in taking a look.






i assume the above photos probably have family members in them somewhere but i don't really know who anyone is, i just like the photos. below is my dad with my cousin and again with my pop (please note my dad's awesome beard), my aunt again on her wedding day and my nanna just being a general babe.







this year more than any before in my life has made me realise how important spending time with family is, because one day they're in your life and the next they can be gone. i know it's a cliche, but eventually it becomes a reality and there is nothing you can do go back.

below, my nanna with a corgi, my nanna & pop together and my uncle and my dad on a birthday. most of the rest are the tame funeral photos (i believe the second one has my nanna and pop in it at my great grandmother's grave). and just for something cheery the last one is my brother and i being cute in the snow when we lived in england.









28 comments:

  1. These really were fascinating to look at - because I love the look of old film photos, and because they're of such a different time. I don't know if my family have got any like these!

    The last one is adorable, haha.

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  2. I can't tell you how much I love this post. I love old photographs as well, pictures from history and also old family pictures. I really enjoyed scrolling through these :)
    xx

    Vicky | golden mirrors

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  3. beautiful post and beautiful family,,,,

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  4. I love looking at old photographs, they make me wander off into a total daydream of life in another era.

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  5. Your family history is interesting to me because I am polish... only live in England.I was always interested in the fate of people who managed to live Poland during the WWII or shortly after...
    Pozdrawiam, xx

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  6. Wow your family took amazing photographs that catalogued so much. I love how candid they all are and intimate. It's definitely important to appreciate the family you have while you have it, because time is fleeting. That's why it helps to photograph so much because then you can remember it so vividly later on. Oh and the last photo is precious x

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  7. These photos are soo beautiful, love the garden ones! I love old photos :D thanks for sharing these!
    xxxx

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  8. Man, these are amazing. The photo of snow falling on the porch is THE PRETTIEST THING EVER and I actually want a print of it to go on my wall. The colours and composition are amazing and it gives me feelings.

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    1. I KNOW! i wish i knew who took it and what camera it was with and that my nanna still had it so i could have it and take photos like that with it nowwww :(

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  9. These are so prescious! So beautiful! xx

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    www.satinandsouffles.com

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  10. This is so cool! the open-casket photos are creepy, but really awesome. thanks for sharing this o/ I'm sad basically all my family photos were lost while moving in and out of houses :/

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    Replies
    1. that's really sad that they were all lost, hopefully they're in some forgotten box somewhere and one day you'll uncover them.

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  11. These are so beautiful! Love the pictures with snow <3

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  13. Family history has always fascinated me and it is amazing to see what the older members of your family looked like when they were young. I think my parents only have a few pictures of themselves when they were in their early 20's - they could never afford photographs before then. Similarly, there are no photographs of two of my grandparents who died young, which makes me a bit sad because I never met them.

    I guess that is part of the reason why I like taking pictures so much...sometimes I like to convince myself that you can't really lose something if you have a picture of it?

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    1. i'm the same, i like taking photos of little moments in time that my family seem to think are really ordinary, but i want to keep photos so that when i'm older i'll be able to remember people and things just as they are now.

      and it is really interesting to see how people look when they're younger. my uncle looks EXACTLY the same then as he does now but i can't even recognise my dad in most of the photos, he looks totally different.

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  14. oh so many pretty photos. and the photos of children...how they are all looking tidy and happy and all dressed-up. I am always pretty amazed by these.

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  15. This has been such a wonderful read, so different posts that I've read tonight. Thanks for sharing this :)

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  16. Beautiful pictures, a lot of remembers :)

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  17. I just love looking at people's old family pictures. All of these are beautiful and so interesting. Thanks for sharing!

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  18. Thank you :) Indeed, but luckily it's finally a bit warmer over here.
    xx

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  19. WOW! these are great I love looking at old photographs, Dave has loads too of his family.
    I have very few, which somehow made me realize how important it is to take loads of pictures of my own life, and hopefully my grand-kids will appreciate it!
    Thank you for sharing.

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  20. These are great! I really love the style, colors and worn out feeling of old photographs. They always seem a little more magical and they somehow catch the feeling better. Todays cameras focus too much on reality. We need a camera that automatically adjusts colors and tone to match feeling

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  21. These pictures are priceless xx

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  22. I always find myself taken to another place when I look at family photos, getting a glimpse into someone who despite not knowing in person share a connection are one of the little things in life we should all cherish. I actually prefer older pictures to ones taken on digital cameras now, their just not as warm. beautiful pictures!

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