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Category: Blast from the past

♥

So I mentioned that I have a bit of a thing for old photos, and in seeking them out to write this, I have discovered that “thing” is becoming a bit of a collection! I’m not sure when it started, but I first bought a few at an antique stall at a market in London. They had boxes of pictures as well as whole albums. Full. Of someone’s life. It used to make me sad. I love photographs so much, they can hold so much meaning and memory for me that I couldn’t understand how these had been left for antique dealers to salvage and sell on. For me its a little bit like breaking a branch off the family tree.

But I also found them complete treasure troves, I could rummage through the boxes for hours. (Don’t invite me to meet your family; when your Mum gets out the baby pictures, you won’t tear me away). And the albums are intriguing and exciting mysteries. Who are they? Where were they? What exciting adventures were they embarking on?  This one has a simple title on the back “The Wedding Party”.

If you see any old pictures in a market, please give them a good home. If you can’t, send them to me. I will love them for you.

Scratch

I was going to write a blog post about my fascination with old photos, then as I was digging for some I found these. Not the old photos I was looking for, but old enough.

This is Scratch. Or Uncle Scratch as I knew him. He really was my uncle. I took these pics of him while I was at uni – lets say 1995 or 1996. He used to terrify me. He would run after me and catch me up then rub his rough stubble or spiky crew cut against my cheek. I always thought thats why he was called Scratch, but probably not. The truth of the matter is he was a big softie at heart. Hell, he was a tough army guy, and at the time of these photographs, a prison warden, and yet he was willing to follow his arts student niece (who had crazy colourful student hair) into a studio and allow her to take these pictures. I also remember a summer holiday with him where he spent days patiently flipping me into a swimming pool time and time again until I could do it myself. Sadly, Scratch passed away a few years ago. I will write a blog post about old photos in the future, but for now these are the best old photos I could have come across.