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What's in a photograph?

W.A. HEART

W.A. HEART

Senior Registered
Photographs - what is there, what is it they carry that survives time and distance. What is it that we see in them? How much of a person's soul is imprinted on a photograph?

I know - my musings are not very original. Long before now people have wondered, delighted at, and feared the power of the lens. In some cultures, there was - and still is, I think - a deep rooted belief that your soul will be captured on the picture - stolen from you.

I don't share that belief - but I do wonder at how much of our soul can show through. IMO, a photograph is so much more than a piece of paper - so much more than a painted portrait.
I have - and I'm sure many of you know what I am talking about - experienced instant recognition of the souls of those who have been very dear to me in lives that are past now, upon seing photographs of whom they are today.

I am always marvelling at things like this, even if they are long known and probably worn out by discussion. :o

I would love to hear other member's thoughts and feelings about this! :)
 
Hello Fe,


I love old photographs and base some of my art work from them. I am fascinated by children's photographs specifically. The old clothes, toys, hair styles. I am especially drawn to those that do not belong to anyone. They are not and have not been identified. I cannot help but wonder who they were, if they are alive now, and why the photograph came to be so far from "home."


I came across a quote by my professor from years ago. A fascinating woman. At the end of the article was a quote - that got my attention.

History is not a static image or frozen story. It is not a noun. Even if it's images and stories are very old, it is always flowing forward. History is a verb."
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Perhaps this is our fascination with the old photos. : angel:D
 
Hello Deborah!


I loved your reply - and I think you are absolutely right. You put into words all the strange nostalgia of old photos - yes, especially those that have gone "astray". I feel elated, thinking that I'm holding that captured moment in my hand, with no background and no reason. Like so many other things -one day, here they are, breathing and alive right in front of you!


My obsession with antique fairs has much to do with this... hmmm perception of things. Just the other night my mother and I were remembering an outing we had when I was little - 10 or so. We stopped at one such fair - in the middle of nowhere. I plagued my mother until she agreed to buy me an old photo I found there - of a man with blonde hair and a dainty moustache, and very soft light eyes... I clamed in all conviction that I knew him! ;)


I do love that quote very much - history is indeed alive!
 
I thought perhaps you might enjoy this image. To me it says so much and is very eloquent. :)


Asian%20girl.jpg
 
In my own work as a professional photographer, I find that I don't get to see the soul inside the person if they are posing for me. Then, all you see is the surface, they have shielded themselves from the camera and I end up with a photo that is only useful for a mug shot. It has all the life and soul of a cardboard cutout.


However, if (and this is the technique that makes a street photograph "street") I take their picture without them being aware of it, I get a very revealing glimpse into their soul. It is most noticeable in the work that I've done with at-risk youth and gang members.


These two groups are masterful at shielding everything that's going on inside them from adults. Behind their masks of sullen indifference or flinty-eyed hostility are thoughts and feelings that break the heart.


I have one that I took of a 16 year old boy, moments after he and some of the other kids in the street gang that they belong to, opened fire on a schoolbus. It is a 'head and shoulders' portrait shot from about 5 feet away, and I have it enlarged to life-size. What is so striking is the look in his eyes. I call it "cry for help".


It hangs on the wall in my front parlor, where it inspires me to use my powers for good.


It would be interesting to see if any of the people I've photographed (a great many in my small town, and our new President when he visited, thanks to media credentials) will ever find their pictures online one day and recognize their past selves.


Phoenix
 
I used to work as a photographer and reporter for a small newspaper. I too found that the best photos were taken when the subjects were unaware of it. Posing made them look almost fake.


I too love old photographs. I have a large collection of photos from my dad's side of the family. BTW I look identical to my great-grandmother.


When I was little, I saw a tiny pink picture frame in a store, with one of those sample photos, an old-time photo of a little girl. For some reason, I kept the sample photo. I'm still not sure quite why. Later when I got older, dad gave me a family group photo of his grandfather and siblings. The youngest sister of great-grandfather looked IDENTICAL to the sample photo I had kept all those years. It was spooky. I actually put both photos together in a photo album.
 
Hi W.A. Heart,


I think that there is certainly a connection, between photographs, spirituality, and reincarnation. Old photographs have helped to guide me in the discovery of the two past lives I've identified, and allowed me to identify other members of my family in previous lifetimes. I 've been guided or lead to find a number of photographs of my ancestors. The first couple of times I dismissed it as random chance, or luck, but after the third time, which occurred in a more pronounced manner, I realised that something beyond the ordinary was bringing this about, although I didn't know exactly what it was or why it was happening.


I wondered if it was the spirits of my ancestors guiding me to find their picture, or was it some form of E.S.P. that was leading me to them.


I eventually wrote to the Association of Research and Enlightment and asked if they had any record of such a thing happening to other people. I was surprised by a phone call one day from from Kevin Todeschi. He said he thought he had heard of a similar case, and that he thought that the reason for it's occurrence had to do with reincarnation.


What do you think of Dr. Walter Semkiw's theory that facial architecture remains consistent from lifetime to lifetime?
 
Hello TsarAlexis!

I 've been guided or lead to find a number of photographs of my ancestors. The first couple of times I dismissed it as random chance, or luck, but after the third time, which occurred in a more pronounced manner, I realised that something beyond the ordinary was bringing this about, although I didn't know exactly what it was or why it was happening.
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:) Yes - sinchronicity is an amazing thing! I think the Universe has many ways of making information available for those that seek it. I have seen it happen many times, not only to myself obviously - but it never ceases to delight me. :o


About facial architecture - well, I am not sure there is really a rule to these things. I wrote a little about this in this thread... I do feel that there's "something about" people that doesnt change much - and I'm sorry if I sound so inexact. :o


Sometimes I see resemblances - very clear ones. Strong facial and body type similarity. Sometimes there are little details that haven't changed - like the shape of a person's hands.


But - even when all those things appear very different - I think the soul inside somehow makes people look similar to what they have looked like before.


I think it's interesting - to think that photos catch those "moments of the soul" and allow us to remember - who we were, who others were.


I think it's fascinating! ;)
 
I dont think that we do stay looking the same from life to life. I do think that those who are in our soul group will look more similar . The one man who I feel a connection with is Jewish in this life--- yet he looks more like my ethnic background which is fair red haired English, nordic .


I think though as people grow this facial semblance will change. As I talked about in message number 10 feeling that you are not in the same family is necessary to spiritual growth. It gives a sense of individuality through which we have to grapple with our egos and our issues.


soulfreindly
 
Just a thought on the photography stealing of souls thing...


My sister, when she was young, suddenly for no reason started frowning in all photos taken of her. She absolutely refused to smile. The only serious explanation she ever gave me was that she felt like she wasn't supposed to smile. Eventually it stopped, seemingly as suddenly as it started. We've always wondered where she got the idea.


Anyways, just an interesting anecdote that this thread reminded me of.
 
Lady of Shalott---


Reminds me of the very serious pictures of my parents family... It always made me think as a child that they were very plain people but now I know that taking pictures with the first cameras in the late 1800s /early 1900 everyone had to stay still for a long time.. like a full minute..


soulfreindly
 
I've always loved old photos. I will sit and look at them all the time. especially ones that are hung up in family restaurants and in old buildings. Even in consignment shops or antique shops, I just love to look at the old pictures with the old fashioned clothes and marvel at how simple life was back in that time.
 
The thing with photographs is that they're still a relatively recent innovation. All images prior to the photographic era were someone's interpretation of what someone looked like via painting or carving and may or may not be accurate. A photograph, on the other hand, is an absolute representation of an individual.


The photos of the Crimean War fascinate me and are probably not that visually different from photographs that would have been taken during the Napoleonic era had the technology been available at the time, as clothing styles and uniforms had changed little.
 
No one loves digital photography more than me, yet I can't help but wonder how it will affect "old photographs" of the future. With no film to buy or develop, people are taking millions of more photographs a year...of everything and everyone. Yet, most of these photographs are never printed. Millions are, though, but most people in the future will probably be viewing old photographs on a PC, TV, or something even more advanced. Do you think viewing them on a screen will have the same affect as viewing them on paper? And will "old photographs" seem so special when there are billions more of them to view?:confused:
 
SundayAtDusk said:
And will "old photographs" seem so special when there are billions more of them to view?:confused:
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Maybe not, but I don't believe that many photographs will actually stay saved for the next generations - sadly - because no one hardly ever prints them (I know I never get around to it), and files have a tendency to disappear into the cyber space sooner or later.


Karoliina
 
I didn't know where to post this but I thought I would share this site I discovered. It has photos from the 1800's to the 1970's www.shorpy.com/ It has all kinds of stuff to look at either for the fun of it or to hopefully trigger memories.


www.legendsofamerica.com also has a lot of photos. The latter one is U.S. old west history, but it is a lot of fun to read through and check out the pictures if your interested at all in that time and area of history.
 
Death photos


I belong to an author critique site, wherein you critique the writings of others in exchange for critiques of your work. At any rate, there is a writing based on the late 18th - early 19th century process of taking photographs of people who had recently died. It was very common. It's a very creative story of a teenager caught inbetween life and death because of this image.
 
I know it used to be a fairly common practice, but I find those death photo's slightly disturbing. I mean a photo is meant to be a recording of a memory, of happy times, a moment of life captured on a piece of paper for eternity. When dead people 'pose' for a photograph with family like that, you can almost see the pain in the relatives' eyes. I certainly wouldn't want to remember a loved one like that, or be a part of it, I find it all rather ghoulish to be honest.
 
Many people could not afford to have their portrait photos taken. Amateur photography did not exist yet. This is probably the only photo these parents will ever have of their daughter.
 
I have seen these pictures before, and I agree with Chris. I find them profoundly disturbing. My family has been known to take pictures of the diseased at open-casket funerals. If anyone takes one of me, they will find the phrase "I am being haunted" has new meaning!
 
BriarRose said:
My family has been known to take pictures of the diseased at open-casket funerals. If anyone takes one of me, they will find the phrase "I am being haunted" has new meaning!
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My dad, the family photographer, was asked by a close friend to take photos of a very young relative in the casket. He did and I have the negatives, but it was not something he liked doing.
 
Hi Samyann.


I find the image fascinating. Her parents appear fuzzy due to movement and the amount of time it took to take a picture back then. She however seems crystal clear. An interesting juxtaposition between life and death - in a photo.


Photographs are so common and sOoooooo overdone these days - to take a picture of someone who has passed seems odd to us. But to them I imagine it was a tribute, a keepsake, a way to remember her. Like death rings people made in the 1700's before cameras; when someone died, they had a special ring made that symbolized that persons life.


I personally love old photographs. Of any kind. $P$
 
When I found what I believe is picture of


me and my friend from past life


The emotions just cascade all over the place.


Haunt me is one saying just looking in her eyes


mirror my own.
 
Driver's license photos


On the assumption of similar facial-features carrying-over.


Can the legendary poor-quality of driver's license photos evoke deja-vu feelings of possible past-lives?
 
Portraits, drawn, or painted present-life face / other photo examples.


Hello,


Can facial portraits, as well as drawings, or painted pictures of present-life faces evoke possible past-life memories?


Can common photographs of our present-lives e.g., driver's license photos also evoke deja-vu like memories?


Viewing different examples of images of our faces may evoke memories of interest.


Marc
 
My profile picture here is the image that best reminds me of one PL that I have dreamt about. I was a young Native girl who was either sold by my mother, or taken by soldiers. This image of the Sioux in an internment camp in Minnesota makes my heart skip a beat.
 
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