PICTURES AS NEW ICONS

Probably my favorite childhood picture of my husband. He is having a bath in what they called ‘the washshed.’ Stubborn as always. But here is this little square image, taken some seventy years ago – and what to do with it now?
Here he is again, usually with a dog. Most family pics also included the car for pride of ownership. The camera was trotted out only on special occasions: visitors, events (like the catching of a big fish) These are the hardscrabble poor Montana Higgins, grandfather with his first two grandsons. And, of course, the fish.
On my side the camera comes out one rare Christmas, uniting sisters. The one in the foreground has decided to quit speaking to me anymore but our closeness is still evident in childhood.
Or digging out from a snowfall in Nome at my grandmother’s house. None of this sparse collection was in colour. You had to send them in an envelope marked, ‘Photos. Do Not Bend.’ stamped and carefully addressed, hoping the recipient might still be at that address since you hadn’t heard in awhile. How the world has changed while human nature has stayed exactly the same.