A picnic in Barrie. 1954.

[lynn]

The old family snapshots that my mother likes to slip into her letters are usually warmly familiar to me - often I already have them, though I don't tell her that, of course - but this photo, which arrived last week, is a revelation.
I was three-going-on-four, and we lived in Barrie, Ontario, when this picture, this seemingly simple picture was taken. I (perhaps because I am seeing it for the first time) find it intensely intricate, and moving: beyond the homely length of checked tablecloth, the spacious sweep of lakeshore, and the tidy piles of Melamine dishes, I see the concentration on my mother's face, and the total trust and adoration in mine. I am touched by the delicate curve of her slender arms, and her tousled hair, by her innocent determination to do things right, and by her sheer youth. I have no memory of this her - I was so little! - but I am grateful for the insight that this image has granted me.

[nikonbob]

Family snapshots are a much maligned aspect of photography but with the passing of time their true meaning and importance becomes evident. Thank you for reminding me of this by sharing your personal thoughts on this photo.

Bob

[kamera]

Lynn,

One beautiful piece of those early childhood memories of yours!!
Thanks for sharing.

Ron Head
Kalamazoo, MI

[GeneW]

Lynn, this is an incredibly rich, wonderful photo from the past. A treasure!

Gene

[bobm]

Family snaps are a precious and evocative moment in time, forever frozen.

We can create our future but without pictures like these, we have no past.....

A genuinely touching image.

[mickeyobe]

Lynn,

It is pictures like this that make photography such a miraculous medium. It is a time machine to the past.

Mickey

P.S. Kempenfetldt Bay is still just as beautiful.
M.O.

[Randy]

Nice photo Lynn, I was three years old then also.