photos and memories

[Out to Lunch]

My childhood home, where I lived until I went to college and rented a room downtown. My mother lived here until her death 9 years ago. I had a fantastic childhood there:
500 meters from this spot the meadows began where I spent most of my time catching frogs, jumping ditches, and burn fires.

 

[Erik van Straten]

This is in the completely renovated "Centraal Station" in Amsterdam. There are many cafés. Apparently unintentionally, this café has created an atmosphere like I remember that of the larger cafés in Amsterdam from the 1950s. Only the waiting staff is missing.

gelatine silver print (cooke amotal 50mm) leica mp

Erik.

 

[Anthony Harvey]

Great pictures every one! And many thanks to Erik for such an inspired choice of subject! Thank you all.

 

[Rayt]

This was the product of my first attempt at street photography in San Francisco around 1991. The camera was either a Yashica T3 T4 or Olympus clamshell on full auto. It was impossible to print due to the bad exposure. The film was Ilford XP1 which was what saved the shot.

SFBUSc by ray tai, on Flickr

 

[rhl-oregon]

The thread specifies memory, not the dead, but the dead exist in memory and relics only. Such as this double exposure of my sister on the deathbed she did not yet realize or accept.

XE1, 35/1.4

 

[rhl-oregon]

My mother’s hand, extended toward me in the final days. She had briefly opened her eyes and smiled when I arrived from the far coast. We talked a little about what was coming over the next few days, and her fear of it being a kind of nothing rather than a grand reunion, but she no longer opened her eyes. The little girl deep inside said she was scared. So I read to her from the family bible about life and death and resurrection and she slept until she was no longer conscious in any way I could comprehend.

And again, her hands—as I folded them, shortly after she died.

Ricoh GXR, ZM 50/2

 

[Vince Lupo]

Very beautiful and sensitive photos Robert.

 

[PaulDalex]

Another thread with superb images.
Vince I always thought from your family name you could be half Italian.
I am curious: how do you feel about your Italian roots?
Are they relevant for you or indifferent?
Have you visited the places where your grandparents came from?
Some colleagues of mine emigrated and had nostalgia ever since
I myself had a good opportunity when I was young. But in my case my military duties prevented me to become American. With today's laws I would have been allowed to take the job I had been offered more than half century ago.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

I am loving the pictures of memory here. This one is 3 years old, and my wife kissed me when I showed it to her.

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[PaulDalex]

BTW
Incredible library
I wish I could afford something like that.
In my home books are instead all over the places.
I had a colleague (passed away many years ago) who was co-owner of a book shop and he had so many books at home that he even made the easy chairs stacking books.
In my house I have saturated all the available space and any further book I buy it is a headache to find it a place.

 

[p.giannakis]

Very powerful images Robert, thank you for sharing them.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Another thread with superb images.
Vince I always thought from your family name you could be half Italian.
I am curious: how do you feel about your Italian roots?
Are they relevant for you or indifferent?
Have you visited the places where your grandparents came from?
Some colleagues of mine emigrated and had nostalgia ever since
I myself had a good opportunity when I was young. But in my case my military duties prevented me to become American. With today's laws I would have been allowed to take the job I had been offered more than half century ago.

Thanks for the comments - no I've never been to Italy/Sicily, both sides of my family are from there (other side is from Frosinone).

As far as how I feel about my roots, it's funny but a couple of years ago I did my Ancestry DNA, and the results that came back were a bit surprising: 55% was Italian/Greek, but 45% was not. 23% was Middle Eastern, and the rest was a mix (including a little bit of North African, which would be understandable considering its proximity to Sicily). So assuming that data has any degree of accuracy to it, I personally feel like I'm an ethnic mix, though my family was definitely Italian/Sicilian and the cultural influence was Italian/Sicilian. However, there's also the firm and distinct Canadian roots, so if someone asked me what my background was, I'd say Canadian first, then Sicilian/Italian second. I think if anything, I have a longing to return to Canada (which we're planning to do in a few years) more so than a desire to visit Italy/Sicily. But Italy/Sicily might be in the cards sometime down the road.

 

[Shac]

This is a sad memory for me of a very good friend - been gone 5 years

 

[PaulDalex]

Vince,
thank you very much for your answer.
I was not aware that it is possible nowadays to do an ancestry DNA. Quite interesting.

 

[Out to Lunch]

The Hague, where I spent a few years as a student. Good memories of the town and the nearby beaches in Scheveningen. Epson R-D1s - Zeiss Biogon 2.8/28.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

This one stirs fond memories of a friend, who passed away unexpectedly not long after I took this photo in 2007. His death left a deep wound within his sizeable group of friends that hasn't fully healed.

 

[Rick Waldroup]

Summer 2013. Four of my eight grandchildren eating watermelon in the back of my truck. The oldest one in back is now in college.

 

[Out to Lunch]

My first -and last Vespa. Vespa Cosa. Saigon, 2007. I don't remember if it was the 150 or 200cc model. Fast but also very temperamental. I spent too much time in the
workshop with it and sold it in 2010. Cheers, OtL

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

Very moving photos Robert. I had a similar experience when my grandmother passed away. I visited her in the ICU one morning. She could not speak but I could see in her eyes that she recognized me. She passed away early that afternoon. I am so glad that I had one last chance to hold her hand before she dies.

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatine silver print (nikkor 50mm) nikkormat

London 1974.

Erik.