“In the convex driving-mirror she could see, dwindling rapidly, the patch of road where they had stood; and she wondered why it had never occurred to her before that you cannot successfully navigate the future unless you keep always framed beside it a small clear image of the past.”
—JAN STRUTHER, Mrs. Miniver, 1940
Here then is a second collection of assorted photographic portraits—some simple snapshots, others formal studio likenesses. They serve, like those in the last issue, to record particular people and moments in more or less recent history—not, perhaps, earth-shaking moments but rather the kind of ordinary instants that are part of everyone’s life. These pictures have been assembled from my own albums as well as from those of Claude Carrier, Diana Hutchins Angulo, Richard Barker, Adolfo Garcia, and other friends here in the United States and Europe.
By listening to people and reading their expressions, events take on personal meanings and it doesn’t take too much imagination to transport you further and further back. History is, after all, about people and their stories, and their stories often show up vividly in their faces.
Nothing illustrates the truth of this as well as spending time with old photographs. And certainly it’s reason enough to put together miscellaneous selections of these culled from dozens of albums, boxes, and scrapbooks. In this and future editions of the website you’ll be offered assorted glimpses of the past. Enjoy!
