Grace Crilly
2019
In this photo you can see me and my Mamo. Mamo is an Irish-Gaelic way of saying "grandma." This photo was taken on my second birthday. At the side of the photo, my brother is looking at the cake and waiting to eat. My Mamo is holding my hand so I don't grab the cake apart with my hands. You could obviously see that this is a birthday photo of mine. This was back in 2003. Indicating that it was 2003, in the back of me and Mamo there is a radio. Along in the foreground of the photo, the walls are dark brown wooden walls and there is a television in the corner of the photo. Another observation in this photo that can help indicate that it's 2003, is that a landline chord is placed on top of a folder in the very corner on the left side. I'll connect Susan Sontag's statements with my photo by discussing how photos are kept to keep memories alive for each of my own family members.
In Susan Sontag's essay, "On Photography" she writes about family photos. She states, "Through photographs, each family constructs a portrait chronicle of itself- a portable kit of images bears witness to its connectedness. It hardly matters what activities are photographed so long as photographs get taken and are cherished" (Sontag 10). I agree with Sontag, because the activity you do in the photo shouldn't matter. Keeping the photo makes you remember who the family members were and all the memories you've shared with them. Most people keep certain photos to keep a memory of someone that they have lost. To keep her memory alive is really important to me. Taking photos is also fun because you can look back at fun memories you had. It's fun to take pictures while you're on vacation and look back at those.
Sontag has also stated, "Photography becomes a rite of family life just when, in the industrializing countries of Europe and America, the very institution of the family starts undergoing change." A hundred years ago, the world war, migration and immigration had an impact on families and made photography important because of having a relative/family member in the war, you might never see them ever again. My stepdad's father was a Marine in the war and he still has his photo to this day. He survived the war, but passed away when he was back home when my stepdad was younger. My Aunt (my mom's sister) had told me that her father, my grandfather Harry, was in the war, but I never met him. My Mamo had told me that my great great great grandfather was in the war, who I don't know of whatsoever and had never seen photos of. It's sad to find out about that relatives you have never met, when you don't have photos of them.
Most people love to capture the moment so they can go back and relive that moment. There is a negative to this, though, because of the fact that if people are caught up capturing the moment, they can't live in it and will miss a good experience. Like at concerts, for example, people are caught up to have actual footage of their favorite singer or band, that they miss out on rocking out to their music with your best friend. It could also come off as disrespectful to the performer at a concert, because they want to give a performance they wouldn't forget but is filmed the whole time though.
I do still have my Mamo in my life, but it does keep her memory alive when I know she'll be gone. My Papa on my dad's side died when I was 3 years old. My nana, my dad's mom died when I was 7 years old. Papa was my first best friend before anyone else. On my Mom's side, her father Harry died 33 years ago of a heart attack. I was intrigued to find out that he had passed away on May 20th in 1986, then after 15 years in 2001 I was born on the same date. That's why I treasure her so much, and I appreciate the fact I still have her. Mamo is the only relative I have left. My papa, nana, and Mamo I have several photos of although I only have one photo of my grandfather Harry. Recently, I've been trying to talk to my mom and Mamo about finding any old photos so I can see more photos of him, but they had said, "I think we might have lost some and don't have them anymore." I felt heartbroken to hear that, especially knowing I only have one photo of him. Having at least one is better than having none, but at the same time photos that people would especially treasure are of family you've never met before.
Sontag reflects that on the "earliest popular use of photography" would be remembering achievements of individuals that would be considered members of families. She also adds that cameras "go with family life". That even photo use could be used for family's daily lives. I would say that this picture now shows my relationship with my Mamo, that this photo I'll be able to keep in memory of her. It shows how much growth both me and her have had. I would say why she treasures me so much is the fact that I'm her only granddaughter in our family.
Nowadays we don't need to warm up our cameras and have film to take a photo. We can take photos at anytime and anyplace, unlike how it was back in the past. For example, now we can take a photo at a sporting event to show our participation and appearance like how Sontag explains how photography is one of our main devices that's used for experiencing something. The way I can connect to this is the fact that I was looking through my stepdad's camera roll recently and found a bunch of old photos and videos of my sport meets and concerts. Photography is apart of people's daily lives now since we have that advantage.
Works Cited
Sontag, Susan. On Photography. Picador, 1977