Gertrude: Although the family business of taking photographs started as just a way for my sisters and I to survive, I have grown very fond of the business and love meeting new customers. Each person I photograph tells a different story and has lived a different life. In a way, taking one's picture is almost like writing a story about them. You can capture different angles, change the lighting or background, and the outcome appears different. This is the same for writing. By making subtle writing adjustments, the mood or meaning of a story can completely shift. Our most popular customers are the families that come in with their children to have their portraits taken. I enjoy observing the different dynamics between each of the families that come into our shop. Sometimes it saddens me to see how unhappy the wives often seem. They are so quiet and focused on making sure their children’s outfit is on right and their hair and makeup is perfect. The husbands are always much more talkative and assertive about how they want their picture taken, while the women seem to blend into the background. Image is everything to these people. They get their portraits taken to display in their home and create the illusion of a perfect family. I often wonder how different the photographs would be if I took them candidly, and compared it to the stiff rigid ones the families always request to be taken. Every now and then though a family comes in that makes me long for what they have. I watch the couples who laugh and smile with each other and think that a traditional life would not be so bad if it was with the right person.
Editorial Commentary: This photograph embodies a traditional family during the Victorian Era time period. The family is well put together for this photo and have dressed themselves and their children up in the proper clothes. The husband wears a nice suit and clean shoes signaling he is successful enough to obtain these luxuries. The wife is in a typical Victoria Era outfit as well. She has a high collar long dress, with long sleeves in order to remain modest. This was a requirement of women during this time period. If you did not have the right attire it could very well have hurt your social status. Maintaining a certain image was very important to people during this day and age therefore, so was capturing the proper perfect image in photos. Gertrude expresses how in her experience the image captured of a family is not always how they truly act. She got an unique insight into the reality of marriage and families that many people did not get to see. As Gertrude notes though, images cannot always capture a family’s true dynamic. She expresses how different the staged photographs and candid photographs would be thus proving the point that maintaining appearances was more important than being oneself. Although Gertrude has seen her share of unhappy families she also notes that maybe with the right person having a family of her own would be nice. Gertrude once again expresses her turmoil of being caught between two different worlds while having the pressures of society focused on her as well.
Citation: Taylor, Maureen A . “A Family Portrait Photo Mystery.” Family Tree Magazine, FamilyTree, 15 Oct. 2019, www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/a-family-portrait-photo-mystery/.