My Cousin and Me on a Sled
This picture was taken at my Grandma Hall’s house in Gladwin, Michigan. In the picture is my cousin Adam and me. We are wearing snowmobile helmets and being towed behind a lawnmower in the middle of the summer on a sled. My grandma is the one driving the lawnmower, although you can’t see it in the picture. She used to pull Adam and I like this all the time. She used to make us wear snowmobile helmets because she was concerned about our safety, but yet she would let us do things out of the ordinary. My grandpa is the one who snapped the picture. I didn’t realize he was taking it.
I believe that this picture is very real because I never realized my grandpa was taking the picture and it happened so long ago I don’t know if Adam was just looking the direction the picture was taken or if he realized it was being taken. This picture wasn’t posed; we were so young we probably wouldn’t have stood still long enough to get a posed picture anyways.
The picture of Adam and I relates to David Levi Strauss’s article called “Photography and Belief” in a couple ways. Strauss says, “the relation between photography and belief is especially complicated in images having to do with identity” (730). If a random person seen this photo of Adam and me they wouldn’t know our true identity. They wouldn’t know who we are or where we’re from, they would just see a photograph of two young children. Strauss also says, “if we are to understand the coming changes, we must try harder to understand the present and evolving complexity of the way we look at, use, and ‘believe’ photographs now” (729). This being said we have to really look into the picture to see the reality of it. To understand how it was taken and why it is so important.
This picture means a lot to me because it reminds me of how things used to be. I used to go to my grandma’s house all the time and so did all my cousins. We would do fun things like this with my grandparents and enjoy ourselves every time. Just like my grandma and grandpa aren’t pictured in the photograph, the experience of spending time at their house has now faded. Now my cousins and I hardly ever go to my grandparent’s house. When we do we are now too old to ride in a sled behind a lawnmower, and my grandma is too old to tow us anyways.
It was nice being able to go to my grandma’s house all the time and hang out with all my family and now it isn’t possible for any of us to do. Even when I do find time to go to my grandma’s house I’m usually the only one there instead of our huge family. With our busy lifestyles today it’s hard to find the time to go up and visit ourselves, let alone make sure everyone is there. We made so many great memories at my grandparent’s house that it is sad to think that now we can’t do the same things there, but at least I still have the pictures to remind me of all the fun times we had. The photographs serve as a reminder for me to go visit while I still have time and to cherish the moments I have with them.
I believe that this picture is very real because I never realized my grandpa was taking the picture and it happened so long ago I don’t know if Adam was just looking the direction the picture was taken or if he realized it was being taken. This picture wasn’t posed; we were so young we probably wouldn’t have stood still long enough to get a posed picture anyways.
The picture of Adam and I relates to David Levi Strauss’s article called “Photography and Belief” in a couple ways. Strauss says, “the relation between photography and belief is especially complicated in images having to do with identity” (730). If a random person seen this photo of Adam and me they wouldn’t know our true identity. They wouldn’t know who we are or where we’re from, they would just see a photograph of two young children. Strauss also says, “if we are to understand the coming changes, we must try harder to understand the present and evolving complexity of the way we look at, use, and ‘believe’ photographs now” (729). This being said we have to really look into the picture to see the reality of it. To understand how it was taken and why it is so important.
This picture means a lot to me because it reminds me of how things used to be. I used to go to my grandma’s house all the time and so did all my cousins. We would do fun things like this with my grandparents and enjoy ourselves every time. Just like my grandma and grandpa aren’t pictured in the photograph, the experience of spending time at their house has now faded. Now my cousins and I hardly ever go to my grandparent’s house. When we do we are now too old to ride in a sled behind a lawnmower, and my grandma is too old to tow us anyways.
It was nice being able to go to my grandma’s house all the time and hang out with all my family and now it isn’t possible for any of us to do. Even when I do find time to go to my grandma’s house I’m usually the only one there instead of our huge family. With our busy lifestyles today it’s hard to find the time to go up and visit ourselves, let alone make sure everyone is there. We made so many great memories at my grandparent’s house that it is sad to think that now we can’t do the same things there, but at least I still have the pictures to remind me of all the fun times we had. The photographs serve as a reminder for me to go visit while I still have time and to cherish the moments I have with them.