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Thursday, January 17, 2013

through opa's camera: sweet nostalgia.

last summer i chatted about inheriting my opa's camera and how i am in love with the nostalgia of it all. it's the way i try not to move around the order his things are tucked into his camera bag, or how it feels to hold the camera to my cheek and look through the view finder. for me, it's a way to be closer to him -- his camera is a connection we have to each other we never knew was there when he was still here, and although i can't go back and live that out with him, i can move forward with much intention.

along with his camera and accessories, my dad gave a me a cd filled with a bunch of opa's slides that my uncle had uploaded and copied for him. opa was always so good at developing his film and getting it organized into what seemed like thousands of albums, which i would then scatter all around me while visiting, and park my ass in front of the wall unit to look through them. they would tell stories of their trips to holland, washington and myrtle beach, and the time my dad pissed all over a cannon while having his photo taken on another family vacation -- it's like the photos would bring them right back to that moment, and they would laugh, and i would wish i could have been there.

that's the thing about photos; they can take you anywhere you want to go. they bring you back to that very moment and make you feel, if only a fraction, as you did in that space and time, and as i flipped through the images of opa's slides, i realized how he easily captured those oh-so-special moments. you didn't have to be physically be there to see and feel what it was like to be right then and there -- laying in the warm sun on the front yard on a summer day, or oma feeling beautiful enough in pearls and a pretty dress to want her picture taken (my favourite picture of oma ever, which i plan on printing off and framing). i also couldn't help but notice that he had a few go-to subjects that made up most of his images: his kids, his prized possessions like their home and cars, and of course, my oma. evident by his photos he loooooved to photograph my oma, and she loved being on the other side of his lens just as much. and i can't tell you how romantic i think that is.

11 comments:

  1. Beautiful post Amanda. I love that photo of her too. Got me a bit misty - they really lived a beautiful life. xoxo

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    1. I hope your Dad has given you a copy of the CD!? I love looking through them from time to time, he was so good with that camera. They did, didn't they? xo

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  2. Some great pics of Teddy and Sylvia and of course Mom/Oma. I pretty much remember exactly when each picture was taken like the first one shown here was taken in 1969 of me and your Dad (age 10)at the North Sea in Holland at Scheveningen (if you can pronounce it your are real Dutch). From Uncle John in Ottawa.

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    1. So many great photos! I love the one of Auntie Sylvia by the falls! I can't pronounce it to save my life, but I know in my heart what I am.

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  3. the picture of your oma is stunning. i dont know her at all, but can still find a soul on that photograph. she is so incredibly beautiful with her eyes and smile.

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    1. Thank you Luka! I hadn't seen it before getting the cd of his slides, and when I saw it, it brought me to tears. To this day, (she is 92 years old now) she has the same beautiful soul.

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  4. I always enjoy reading your blogs but this one...oh my. Your Oma just said to me yesterday that she misses getting all dressed up. And the picture in front of their house with the black hair-LOL. Here's the story behind that picture. Oma bought a box of hair dye on sale (of course cause she is dutch). The package read brown but low and behold it was black. So Oma just went out and bought the bright red lipstick to match. I can still hear Opa when he came home from work and he saw her. Definitely worth a picture.Auntie Sylvia

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  5. Amazing!! Lovely lovely! This is a brilliant post in so many ways. I just LOVE old photos, and it brings me back to flipping through faded photos of my own Opa & Oma in Germany. These photos you've picked are GOLD, every one of them. <3 <3

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  6. This is so beautiful. I'm so touched by this story, how wonderful to have such a precious and useful heirloom. You have such a beautiful family.
    I received the same gift of photos a couple of years ago, a batch of CDs of old photographs of my lovely grandparents. I'm from country folk, and to see them in their little farm house with my grandmother in her cotton dress starring lovingly into my grandfather's eyes who's leaning against the counter looking like such a tough guy. It melts my heart and makes me feel so close to my family.
    Cheers.

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  7. These pictures are amazing! Seriously, how perfect! Old photos are the best, and I agree with you when you say you wish you could have been there in that moment with them. I love hearing my grandparents tell about old times. nothing better.

    toriandalex.blogspot.com

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  8. These photos are seriously amazing. I absolutely love old photos. These are such great memories. That photo of your Oma is gorgeous. What a great gift.
    I know my grandparents had tons of slide and a couple years ago my aunt scanned them all in and made them digital. It is such a great way to keep them fresh and not lose all those important memories.

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