Pictures Are Stories

There is a saying I have heard throughout my life, a picture paints a thousand words. I’ve also heard that a picture never lies. I don’t think that saying rings true today with the technology we have. A picture now can be manipulated in so many ways.

As a little girl, I loved to look at the old black and white photos of my family. My grandparents had an old dresser in their basement. The top drawer held those old photos. My mom now has those photos and I still look through them when I’m with her. Thanks to my iPhone, I take pictures of those pictures.

In the last few years my mom has gained more photos from family members who have passed on. I’m grateful for those photos because I get to see a little bit of my history. Some of them have stories, while others, my mom has written down who they are.

My grandma used to say to me, write something on the back of the picture. She always wanted the age, grade, and school of the kids’ school pictures. Now I understand why. Although with technology, photos now have narratives with them.

People post all over social media and write a story about the picture. I sure do. Maybe that will be the way we track out history someday. Who knows, maybe Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and whatever else social media out there, is a new tracking device when we become a part of our family’s history.

Back to a picture paints a thousand words, or a picture never lies. I believe that to be true in the photos of the past. Many of the photos don’t tell the story behind the picture. Such as the one my great great grandmother had taken of her in front of a car. Even though the story isn’t with the picture, it does tell a story.

I can see the picture was taken in the early 1900’s. Her stockings are crumpling around her feet. Was the picture taken on her farm? Was it at a family dinner? Maybe even church. What I do know is, I see a lot of myself in her. It’s kind of eerie that generations later, I can still see a resemblance of myself in her. What do you see when you look at this picture? Do you see a story in it?