After uploading the photo, I see that it's much poorer quality than the original that you can find here. If you right click on that link and choose "open in a new tab" you can flip back and forth to follow me more easily. :)
I like looking at old photos; I'm not sure why. I think it's because when I do, I can fantasize about the people in them, speculate about what their lives where like, what challenges they faced, what kind of folks they were. And it turns out that by looking at the larger photo, there's an awful lot of new detail, telling a whole different story than what I first wrote.
In this photo, that's a tall, shy guy peering out from the behind the tree, showing his hand - is he missing a finger, or flashing the peace sign? And the fellow next to him, turning his body away from the camera, and then looking toward it, perhaps at the last minute. Just showing off his booze, or is he clowning around by covering the seated guy's face? No, the seated guy is holding up his trophy, a cougar face! And what about the guy next to him, the one staring so intently at the top of the stick? What is up with him? Turns out that he's reaching for the booze bottle being offered. Anyone can tell that the fellow on the ground is too darn exhausted to be interested in a photo session; he has a break and he's going to catch 20 winks! But behind him is that man with the jovial smile. He knows he's making history. Farther back, we see the soldier who wanted to show off his shotgun: is he saying "I'm armed and that makes me a better man" or is he combining with the fellow to his right, holding up the fry pan, to say "We hunt to eat?" That is, "we are self-sufficient men."
Then again moving forward, we see the man displaying his shovel overhead. Or, is it an axe? I wonder what his job was. Woodchopper? Did he provide the wood for the cooking fires? What would his life be like today, if he ran a skidder in the forest? And to the right of him, that guy holding the long, menacing knife...was he the buffalo butcher? And next to him, the fellow with the light colored chaps. It must have taken some time and talent to strip off that buffalo fur.
Notice how each man wears his cap differently? Some pull it forward, perhaps to block the sun or because of camera shyness. Perhaps some really don't want to be photographed, but feel as though they must. Or, perhaps, I've just made too much out of this old picture. But, in my own way, I've felt as though I've met each of these men by wondering about them. And I wonder if, when the picture was being made, they wondered who in the future, would wonder about them, their duties, their lives.
2 comments:
"And I wonder if, when the picture was being made, they wondered who in the future, would wonder about them, their duties, their lives."
I wonder if they thought African Americans would still be treated like second class citizens in the future because they were fighting for their country? A country that will never accept them.
Redeye, Each of us is entitled to our own conclusions, as well as to feel differently from day to day.
When President Obama was elected, I was hopeful that it was a stride forward toward equality for all citizens.
President Obama conducts himself with a calm demeanor despite the rash of accusations and demeaning statements hurled at him.
So when you say that our "country will never accept them" I hear outrage and frustration. Our nation is continually a work in progress toward its ideals, so, if I may say, we must keep hope alive.
The pic of the little boy touching President Obama's hair is to cute! What a tender moment, one that conveyed to the boy that "Yes, we are alike. You can achieve like me."
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