Life is an accumulation of memories. Nothing less, nothing more. The richness and diversity of life is represented by the richness and diversity of those memories : people, places, objects, feelings. The spoken word, the written word, the image : all are aide-memoires, the index cards of life.
Photograph of my mother sat in my fathers' Hillman Husky. It is a posed shot, my mother never drove a car in her life. It was probably taken in Blackpool or Bridlington : most Sundays they would head for the coast and park "on the front". They would leave home early in order to find a free parking spot and return home early in order to miss the tea-time rush. My mother would look out to sea and think who knows what. My father would walk around the car checking for tiny scratches or places where the chrome had not been shined to mirror-like intensity.
If you look carefully at the reflection in the front hub-cap you might just make out two figures. One of them would be my father, the director of the shot. The other will have been me, the young photographer. The wind is blowing in from the Irish sea - or the North Sea - and the airborne sand is finding crevices to settle in. It's a vivid memory. It is life.
Life is an accumulation of memories.
Life in a hub-cap; a nice summation. Perhaps there will be a series.
ReplyDeleteHaving looked up your home town I better understand how the Irish Seas could come blowing in on you. I am not familiar with that brand of car but I could see your dad being very proud of his car. I like the hubcap image. I remember 1950 fords had wheel covers like this.
ReplyDeleteI think I have rarely seen such a high polish on a hub cap. Your father must have been very proud of this car. Got to admit that I had never heard of a Hillman Husky either. Only a Hillman Imp. I guess that the Husky was bigger?
ReplyDeleteVery true, and you have such a great collection of tangible memories too, in the photos. It is years since I have seen a Hillman Husky!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember a Hillman Husky, but I do remember the Hillman Minx. It was part of the U.S. invasion of small British cars that followed the success of the Volkswagen Beetle in the 1950s and early 60s. My then prospective father-in-law had a Vauxhall (prospective never became actual). Jim
ReplyDeleteWell said, that car is a dream..I bet it was wonderful to drive:)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how some experiences stay with us. I kept a journal for about ten years. When I look at a day in the journal the whole day returns to me whether I wrote the stuff down or not.
ReplyDeleteJust can't quite place that spot in Bridlington. The car is parked just too close to the sand. I think it must have been Blackpool..
ReplyDelete"the index cards of life" I love that description of photos. I wonder what she was thinking?
ReplyDeleteHillman Husky, 'Moggy Minor', and what looks like the back end of a Mk1 Cortina; an age gone by.
ReplyDeleteHillman Husky, 'Moggy Minor', and what looks like the back end of a Mk1 Cortina; an age gone by.
ReplyDeleteI so wish we still had cars like that.
ReplyDeleteLove the mirror image in the hubcap. That's priceless!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful post. A great photo!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful post. A great photo!
ReplyDeleteA brilliant essay for a shinning photo!
ReplyDeleteFascinating read.
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