My dad was 15 years old when he took this photograph of his grandfather in 1963.
Great Grandpa Edvin worked hard. Look at his hands. He was a small flour mill owner, and after his wife died prematurely he worked pretty much all day long, all the time, until he retired. Never slept more than three hours, because that's how long it took for the mill to work through one full load of grain.
When this picture was taken he was 73 years old, as he was born in 1890. He died in 1976 when my brother was born, at age 86. Just before he went he looked around the room and exclaimed that it was OK for him to go now, since there was a young one to replace him. I was 4-1/2 years old at the time, and can only remember his hands, his cigar boxes, and sitting under his dining room table, which I now have in my possession and eat at once in a while.
My parents just came all the way from Sweden to visit, and my dad and I spent an evening in the basement printing this negative. A few beers later, and a little bit of swearing, we finally arrived at a print we both thought was good, and promptly made seven of them to share with the family.
The 'grain' in the picture is from the textured paper surface.
Thanks for looking,
- Thomas
