This is a portrait of my Great Grandmother Purdie, that must have been taken at around the beginning of the 20th century. It’s one of those things that I saw every day as I was growing up but never really looked closely enough to appreciate it. I think she’s quite beautiful and now when I look at it I try to imagine her sitting there while her photo was taken.  I wonder what she was thinking that day about the events in her life. Was she thinking about her children, the work she had to do, things she was worried about or happy about…? Wish I knew.

Such a different experience from the point and shoot culture we have today and the fact that everything is recorded in photos, scrapbooks and blogs. I wonder what my great granchildren will think about when they look back on my photos and stories in a hundred years.