Storytelling - Post Your Story Behind the Picture

[kxl]

My story... I was born and raised in the Philippines, but immigrated to the US when I was 16. I'm now in my early 50's, and for the past few years, I've been feeling nostalgic about my youth and have been trying to emotionally reconnect with the Philippines.

I went for a visit last month (only my 3rd in 35+ years) and was granted special access to this slaughter house, which was adjacent to a 'wet market' -- something that I've always associated with the Philippines.

But while taking the photos was emotionally satisfying, the satisfaction was also fleeting, as I found out only a few days later that the slaughter house was shut down... causing those old feelings of separation anxiety to start bubbling to surface.

 

[dave lackey]

Nice story, Keith!

It can be hard going back but, all things considered, it was good you did at the time you did. Thank you for posting!

 

[kxl]

Nice story, Keith!

It can be hard going back but, all things considered, it was good you did at the time you did. Thank you for posting!

Thanks Dave - I have to say--this has been one of the best thread topics here at RFF in a long time. Thank YOU for that.

 

[nikon_sam]

I think I've posted this one before but never really told the story behind it...
This is my Mother and this is the story...
My older and only brother died in October 2013, he still lived with my parents and actually died in his own bedroom...he had addiction problems and all that comes with that type lifestyle, my mother was his 'Biggest Fan" she took care of him.
After he passed she mentioned to my wife that she had nothing to live for (even though she was still married to my father).
My parents came over on Christmas Day 2013, I helped her in the house and could tell she was very weak...I watched her the rest of that day and figured this just might be her last Christmas.
Starting in January 2014 she finally wanted to see a doctor...her breathing was poor and she was having a hard time sleeping at night. She'd been to the doctor over five years prior and was told she had Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Hyper Tension...she did nothing to help her condition and it took a toll on her body...
I started taking her to her doctor's appointments and would be in the Exam Room with her. My dad is hard of hearing and would have missed almost everything the doctor would say so I would go in and tell him about it later.
At one point she had about five different doctors we had to see, sometimes we would have to have blood work done or x-rays or scans so I made the appointments and took her. She even had several stints in the hospital, several times being there for over a month.
The picture is a visit to "Urgent Care" she was having problems breathing...this was my view, one that became common place but one that I hated...it was hard to see her in this condition, hard to talk frankly with the doctor and hard to witness her reaction to bad news. Knowing my mother she had to being feeling pretty bad to go out in public in her robe with no make-up or her hair combed. The robe she's wear is blue and red and displays a "Happy" mood that contrasts with the present scene. Her final month was spent in the hospital and I was able to document the time she was there. This shot was on a roll I developed just a few months ago...I knew it was there, I knew I would some day see it.
My mom passed in July 2014, 9 months after my brother...my dad is 85 and in good health...if he's anything like his father he should have at least another 10 years to go.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Good stuff here everyone. Nice to read what's behind it all.

 

[dave lackey]

Yes, a great idea for a thread!

My story is about my parents, still alive but turning old and slowly drifting into dementia. They live in a small town in Finland, quite lonely since all their children and grand-children live in Sweden. When I go to see them we mostly talk about old days, because that keeps them calm and happy. They tell the same stories over and over again about when they grew up in Helsinki during the war, how they spent nights in the air-raid shelters as the Russian bombers flew over the Finnish capital. The house beside my mother's was hit by a bomb, but she survived.

So, after my last visit in April, on my way back to Sweden, I stayed for a few days in Helsinki and went to search for the house where my mother lived during the war. Her father was an Orthodox priest, and they had an apartment in a house that was owned by the Orthodox congregation in Helsinki, and it still is. I found the house and the door to the stair hall was unlocked. So I went in, and sat there for a good while, thinking about my mother as a little girl, running up and down the stairs. And thinking of her now, when she barely can remember who I am when I come to visit.


L1012351 by Rogrunder, on Flickr

Antti,
Can't get the stairwell visit out of my mind. Thank you for sharing. I have thought of doing the same sort of visit just to be where my own parents grew up but I could never find the places. I fear I have missed some important things by being far too late.

 

[dave lackey]

Just as Raid said: great thread idea, Dave.
Here's a photo I did for a colleague from work who had just become a father for the first time. I had recently experienced this myself so I knew how special it was, and this print was my gift to him and his new son.

Frank, that photo is really good! I have tried baby photos before and failed miserably. It must be nice to have done that for a friend. I have been asked to do similar things but I always just decline. Good stuff there. 🙂)

 

[dave lackey]

It is a new week, time to post some more photos with the story behind the picture...🙂

 

[Rogrund]

Antti,
Can't get the stairwell visit out of my mind. Thank you for sharing. I have thought of doing the same sort of visit just to be where my own parents grew up but I could never find the places. I fear I have missed some important things by being far too late.

Thank you, Dave!

 

[Bob Michaels]

James Jenkins sitting in front of Big C's take out restaurant in Shelby Mississippi in 2007. The restaurant was closed because Big C was in prison for selling drugs in addition to food. One year later, Big C had been released from jail but the health department had condemned the restaurant and it had been leveled. Mr. Jenkins had passed out in the middle of Highway 61 and been run over by a truck.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Good story and great image Bob.

 

[dave lackey]

Love it, Bob. Sad story about Big C.

 

[lynnb]

This picture is very sad. I have difficulty looking at it. It is a picture of a lifelong friend, who was my neighbour from the time I was born. She is a lovely person. Soon after the birth of her youngest son, she came to visit my wife and I with her new baby. Our eldest daughter had been born within days of her son, so this was the first time our two babies could get to know each other. It was a very happy day for all of us.

Over the years we kept in touch, not always so often, but each time it was like no time had passed. We talked about how our children are growing, what they are doing, what plans they have in life. Family stuff.

I had not seen my friend for a while when I received notice that her beautiful baby boy in this picture had committed suicide in their family home. My friend was alone at home with him, and found him too late to resuscitate. He had been feeling bad about a broken relationship. There was no outward indication he was feeling suicidal. He died days short of his 18th birthday, just as he was finishing high school and about to start university.

My friend treasures this picture. After the funeral I gave her prints of it and a few others I had taken that day nearly 20 years ago. Over the years he had grown into a well liked, intelligent and caring young man. Now my friend's life is broken, every day is a struggle for her.

I look at this picture, and all I can think of is the shock and despair and the terrible waste of a promising young life. I think of all the joyful things that life could have offered him and which will never happen.

This can happen to anyone. Life is very fragile. Let the people you love know that you love them. My friend will always wonder if she had only gone upstairs to talk to her son, and his friends wonder if only they had called him. Maybe that would have made a difference. They all live with regret and heartache.

I am also very glad that I took this picture. It is from a happier time, when the world was full of promise for my friend and her son.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Tony Reyna, Taos New Mexico.

I met Tony and his son at their Taos New Mexico jewelry store a few years back. Tony, former two time pueblo governor and WWII Japanese prisoner of war and Bataan Death March survivor is a real American hero. He spent almost 4 years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp enduring unimaginable conditions. When he came home he couldn't get a loan from the bank but because banks didn't loan to Native Americans.

 

[lynnb]

Tony Reyna, Taos New Mexico.

I met Tony and his son in his at their Taos New Mexico jewelry store a few years back. Tony, former two time pueblo governor and WWII Japanese prisoner of war and Bataan Death March survivor is a real American hero. He spent almost 4 years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp enduring unimaginable conditions. When he came home he couldn't get a loan from the bank but because banks didn't loan to Native Americans.

That's a wonderful portrait of a real hero. Thanks for sharing.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Sad story indeed Lynn. And life really is fragile. It's great that you captured that moment of joy.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Thanks Lynn.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Modesto is a 97 year old pig farmer in Vinales Cuba. He has been a bit of my "secret stash" as I discovered him out in the country years ago and he had never met another non-Cuban other than me. I would stop by, visit, and make a few more photos every year or so. Old timers here on RFF have seen him before.

Last year my Cuban girlfriend (now ex-) had a tour group of 8 Malaysian photographers on a tour she put together. When the tour was not going well, she took them by to meet and photograph Modesto. I was not happy as I briefly saw this group in action. They would gang up on a poor subject like they were photographing two lions mating in a zoo. But they gave Modesto over $200 for the photo shoot which was more than an ordinary Cuban farmer makes in a year. I had mixed emotions as I never pay for photos for journalistic ethical reasons.

I have been by to visit and photograph Modesto since the Malaysians paid him. He was still very happy to see me. I did give him more prints.

BTW, he ran down this pig in an open area and caught it for this photo. The pig looks calm only because of 1/1000th of a second.

Just for giggles, here is Modesto and my sister a few months ago when I took her by to meet him.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Good stuff Bob.

 

[raid]

I used to drive over to New Orleans several times each year to do street photography. I may have started with this project about 25 years ago. Grandpa Elliott was not so famous then, and I would chat with him in the French Quarter. I once told him that he sounded so much ,ore real than any of the musicians there. Since then, he joined Music for Change, and he became even more famous. He lost vision due to diabetes recently.

They played the blues they way it was meant to be played. I bought a cassette from them then.

People relaxed to their music.