Why is this photograph meaningful to you?

I can see a photo of my dad in his dress blues.It was taken before he went to fight in Korea.Someone else took it.When I see that photo,I think of what a tough,strong person he was.I have never met anyone quite like him and I miss him very much.

I want to grow up to be just like him:)

My dad, at age 32 (which means that was the year I was born) in a jacket and tie, portrait shot, looking straight into the camera, and as handsome as any movie star has ever been. What a beautiful man he was (physically) and I don’t think he ever really knew it, which must have made him even more devastating. I really miss my dad.

(Hi @lucillelucillelucille! Simultaneous dad-missing.)

I looked up and saw a Christmas photo of my children. My daughter is a little over five and my son is a little over two. So it’s about six years old. It is a studio picture, taken by my brother in law who is a photographer. It makes me happy because they were so young and adorable and it’s fun to see how they are changed, if I really think about it.

I’m looking at a photo I took of Mom, Dad, big sister K, and my then-teenaged nephew TJ, all at the dinner table at K’s house in Hollis, Queens on Christmas Day, 1999. I feel wistful when I look at it. Mom and Dad are long gone, K retired a year ago and TJ is now a married man with a toddler daughter and a son in kindergarten.

It’s not in my room but when I look downstairs I see my grandpa I have no Idea who took the picture or when it was take all I know is that it was when there was no color. I know he was a good man and he looked like Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy haha. But I always wish I knew him since I wasn’t born when he died…

The closest photograph to me at the moment is of my grandfather as a three-year old with his arm around his dog, Bender. The dog in my avatar is named after this one. My grandfather died in 2005 at age 95 and was one of my very favorite people on the planet. We had very similar senses of humor and he was a great story-teller.

Many years ago, I was given a photograph of him as a three year old, sans dog, walking away from the camera. He is wearing homemade overalls in the picture and a big straw hat. I have done a number of sketches of this scene over the years and framed them all and gave them to him once as a gift. After he died, my aunt gave me back the artwork and I can also see it from my spot here at my grandfather’s rolltop desk. My aunt also found the other photo (with the dog) taken on the same day. At Christmas this past year, she sent me the tiny overalls that she found when cleaning out his house after he died.

Thank you so much for asking the question as sometimes I forget to look at the photograph and the artwork and the reminder to revisit them is welcome today!

Directly in front of me is a large charcoal sketch a pro made of my kids 20 years ago. But that doesn’t count. Looking to the left is a snap shot a friend of mine got of my daughter when she was about 6, vamping in a big flower hat. To the right of me is a photo of my two sisters and me when I was about 4, and the “little kids” (aka the “pills”) were 1 and 2. I, big sister, have my arm around both of them, protecting them like I did all the years we were growing up. Beside that is a photo of my mom, dad and us three girls when I was about 8. We were on a little train thing that ran thorough some park. I remember that time vividly because before that shot was taken, my dad was off the train, taking pics of us on the train and I was scared crapless that the train was going to take off and he’d be lost he was going to be gone forever. In the picture that a stranger took (dad handed them the camera) you can see the residue of stress overlayed with mass relief on my face, cause he made the train. Below that, a pic of my Mom and Dad right after they got married. They were about 24 and 26 I guess. To the left of that a pic of my sister looking pensively over our back yard in about 1975 when she was a troubled 14 year old.

Now I wanna cry. My kids are all grown, my folks are not only divorced, but deceased, my sisters and I aren’t speaking…..

Great, fantastic question.

It’s a photograph of a stand of trees in New South Wales, taken by an old friend of mine. He’s a professional photographer and I had admired the photograph and then one day, out of the blue, he gave me a signed, framed print of it with a very sweet inscription on the back. It’s a beautiful photo and it reminds me of our friendship and reminds that he found our relationship special too, which is nice, because we haven’t seen or spoken to each other in years.

It’s on my table next to the laptop.
A. and B. On it are my girlfriend and me wearing cracker hats at the last x-mas.
C. My mother took it.
D. I feel great watching it my girlfriend has a nice decolleté on it.
E. see D.

I actually have a photo board on my wall, but the first one that caught my eye was one of me and my 3 best friends on New Year’s Eve, 2009. It was taken at my house, probably by my mom. We were all dressed up even though we didn’t go out… I have on this ridiculous gold, pleathery skirt. It was a fun night. I get mixed feelings looking at that picture. It makes me smile at the memories of the evening… drinking margaritas, playing drunk Taboo with my older brother and his friend (who also stayed in), eating Tostitos, having a dance party after midnight. But it also makes me a little sad. It was before the 4 of us really started dividing in half, it was just the faint beginnings of the rift. There was a hell of a lot less drama, tension, mistrust, frayed ties back then. Now, we’re still all friends, but it’s different. There’s more distance, complication, weaker bonds. Too much driving us apart. I like remembering us 4 girls spending time together, sans boyfriends, arguments, buried resentment, etc.

I see a picture of my husband and me at our wedding. It’s our “kiss” and one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. One of my husband’s friends took the picture and I will be forever grateful that he did.

The other picture I see is of my son. It’s from Christmas 2 years ago that I had professionally done. It’s special to me because it’s my son and he is so handsome though I may be biased. :-)

@Val123 I did mean for the question to stir up memories and emotion, but not enough to make you cry! I sowy. =(

Thank you everyone for your wonderful answers.

A) Who’s in this photograph and/or what is it of?
My wife sitting on a large rock.

B) Where was it taken and how long ago?
It was taken in a small park near the house we were living in, about four years ago.

C) Did you take the picture or did someone else?
I took it.

D) How do you feel when you look at it?
Sad, lonely, hurt, love.

E) And finally, how is it special/significant to you?
It’s the only actual photograph I have of her.

@Vunessuh It’s ok…crying is not always bad.

@Seaofclouds I’d like to see the pic. If he’s over 18 DO NOT LET RANGERR SEE IT!!!!

There are a lot of photographs above my desk, but the one that is technically closest to my computer (and the one I saw first after this question was asked) is a picture of me, my brothers, and my sister when I was about 11 or so. My mom took it. We’re sitting on the ledge of a fountain at a Hawaii hotel and it’s a really cute picture. We’re all smiling and my brother and I are both wearing Hawaiian shirts. You can even see the ocean and palm trees in the background). Reminds of that particular trip (which I do remember) and it was a lot of fun. The quality of the picture is pretty poor; the lighting is such that you can’t really see our faces, but I still love it. :)

Makes me think about the fact that we were close as kids and hopefully we’ll always be. :)

@Val123 :-) He’s only 6 in the picture. He loves having his picture taken and is really natural at picking poses for pictures.

There are 3 photographs hanging on the wall right behind me here in our living room. All three are from our commitment ceremony – the first is of Alex, Alexey and myself, the second is a close up of my pregnant tummy and our hands exchanging bands and the third is a close up of Alex and my faces (how do you say that correctly? bah) and we look so damn happy. All three were taken Nov. 21, 2009 by a photographer from my dad’s wedding photography business of the time. When I look at these, I feel an overwhelming sense of change, so much has changed since those days, we’ve grown so much as a family. They’re special because they represent a time when my true love and I came together and said our vows to each other in front of a couple dozen people and it was the best night ever.

The first one I see when I lift my eyes from the keyboard is my granddaughter. She was born in 2001 in Sweden. The last I heard, she lived in London with her mother, since my son, who had custody, had a severe stroke and can no longer care for her.

Her mother sent me a calendar with 12 pictures of her from her 8th year, and I keep it open to my favorite one. I haven’t received any more current ones. I will probably never meet her in person.

It’s a picture of me when I was about 4 sitting on a rock in the middle of a stream. No shirt on and pedal pushers pushed up past my knees. I’ve got a mop of curly hair (my Bubby called me a “wild Indian”) and I am looking up at the camera with a half mischievous, half poignant expression. For some reason, I have always felt that that picture captured the essential me. I’ve lost her sometimes over the years and I am slowly beginning to regain her.

Oh wow! I really thought all my pictures were in another room. But I looked up and on top of my computer hutch are two pictures one of me and husband on our wedding day (we eloped to the Poconos—after telling everyone we were eloping). The other picture is a picture of me that husband took while we were dating and then put it in a frame that has this writing on it “I have dreamt of LOVE – I have dreamt of YOU”. (He’s so precious.)

It is a school picture of my mother taken when she was around nine years old. That means it would be the mid 1940’s. She has lots of curly light brown hair, cat eyed glasses and an adorable dress I presume her mother sewed for her. She is smiling and innocent and absolutely adorable. I never got a chance to really know my mom; having that picture of her makes me happy and for some reason makes me feel close to her.

I have a photograph of my dad and I, in the small woods by the river in Winnipeg. We built a tepee like hut out of dead trees, back in 1993 or so. In the picture we’re standing in front of it, with him slightly leaning down and his arm is around my shoulders.
It was a pretty epic hut, although he did most of the work haha. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, and he had his long black hippy hair, which is always a bit odd for me when I look at it because I don’t really remember my dad having black hair. His was always white, and all Gandalf like, stained with nicotine and weed smoke haha.
In it I’m wearing these ugly blue corduroy pants with a white and pink sweater that has a drawing of a panda on it. I remember his girlfriend taking it, she was totally amazed by the little hut we did. I’ll always remember the picture not only because it was one of them father and daughter activity things we did, but because my dad’s like, dead. XD
I’ll also remember it because that little hut we made was totally destroyed by someone like two days after lol.
But I remember how he showed me how to do it, and so years later, some friends and I went out in big woods or small forests pulling a Blair Witch Project and camped out there to get drunk or stoned, and we made huts just like that.
Find a good tree with a large space around it, crush the earth and grass for a while, then find dead tress and use the main live tree as a base to lean the other ones in, and intetwine them at the upper base. Leave a small space for entering and exiting. You can hang flashlights and shit, and tell horror stories while you drink those cheap two dollar whiskey miniatures.
But yeah, that photograph is awesome.

I’ve also got one of my grandmother and me, when I went to visit her in France years ago. my hair was dyed blond, and I was wearing a Nirvana t shirt lmao. She’s got dyed red hair, and is kinda small and pudgy. Both of us are smiling, that was before I took off again. I like this one too, since I get along real good with my grandma, but we don’t see each other much at all, other than speaking on the phone.

This is tricky. Across the top of my desk hutch is a row of photo frames… some of which hold multiple photos.
So I’ll select the one that is literally closest to the front by a hair.
It’s a photo of me as a toddler, sitting on my grandfather’s lap. Behind him is my grandmother (his wife), and to the other side are my grandmother and grandfather from my mother’s side. It’s a professional, posed photo, on a nature backdrop.. taken sometime in the early 80s. It’s nice because everyone is dressed up and everyone looks really happy, despite the fact that it’s a posed photo. My sisters have always told me how jealous they are that I have a photo with all 4 of our grandparents.. and I kind of relish in that. I was very close with all of them and I only have one remaining grandparent. It’s one of those photos that makes my heart swell. :)

My son Cash, it was taken in my parents Great Room, late May. My husband took the picture, you can see me in the background on the computer. I think it’s so cute. Our little guy thinks Ironman is cool, so we got him a mask and he puts it on and pretends to fly.
This is the picture

This picture of my two kids.
They are grown now, and both are working. I see them often, but I still miss these two little ones.

My Cat ‘Ellie’ who died five years ago after being hit by a car! :-/ my little Naughty Tortie, it was taken shortly before I moved from my last house almost six years ago, yes I took the picture & when I look at it I often wonder had she made to adulthood what she would be like now, what sort of mother she would have been, as she was only nine months old when she died.
She brings back so many good memories for me even though she was with me for such a very short time, she was a character alright & very naughty indeed…. :-/ my little Tortie.

I have no photographs near me at all. Maybe that’s part of my problem. I’ve cut myself off from pretty much everyone.

I don’t have any photographs within range that aren’t art. The photographs that are up, I took and as art.

The only photo I have within range is of my late wife Meghan, taken during our honeymoon in 1999. She’d gone out on the beach in her new string bikini and gotten too much sun on the second day. She was in some discomfort when the picture was taken, but still radiantly happy.

A) Who’s in this photograph and/or what is it of?
B) Where was it taken and how long ago?
C) Did you take the picture or did someone else?
D) How do you feel when you look at it?
E) And finally, how is it special/significant to you?

My smiling son when he was about 4 years old.
It was taken at our new house after the divorce.
I took the picture.
When I look at it, I am reminded of how he has continued smiling even through the hardest times, how beautiful he is and how I’m madly in love with him.
I like to surround myself with photos of the kids. Though I was lucky enough to raise them, they are older now and I don’t see them every single day. I can’t think of any other photo that would interest me. Colours and atrwork don’t really do it for me, and my smiling kids faces always make me happy.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I think is would be “Alex’s face and mine.” I think. But…maybe not. I’ve wondered how to say that too. I’ll find out tomorrow from my boss, who taught HS English for 23 years

@Val123 LOL, okay

It’s a photo of one of our old dogs, Baxter (Flatcoated Retriever if anyone’s interested) and it was taken in my grandparents garden a least 15 years ago. I would imagine it was taken by my grandad and it makes me feel comforted when I look at it. I have had many dogs over the yeasr but Baxter will always have an extra special place in my heart. He was my best friend as a young child and I still miss him every single day. That is why this picture is so special to me. It sits next to my bed so I can still see him whenever I want to.

Photo on my main cell phone screen. It’s of a woman from the cover of a magazine that I took back in 09 it means something because she reminds me of someone I have had feelings for for a long time.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Apparently the “proper” way to say it is “Alex’s and my portrait.” But, you know what? I’d over throw “proper” (clunky) for casualness and ease of speech. I’d say, “Mine and Alex’s.” Just sounds better, even if it’s totally wrong!