Photographs From a Mans Life. That man was my step-dad.

My mum and stepdad new each other in the 70’s. This was a time when instant cameras were becoming popular. People still took their photo reels to the chemist to have them printed or put into slide format to be viewed via a projector. The slide format becoming less popular as the instamatic photo allowed us to hold a photo in our hand whenever we wanted to view it. The print out versions became brighter and clearer and became the preferred method to see your photos. This was way before computers, smart phones and digital photography.

From memory digital photography didn’t really become mainstream in our family until smartphones came in around mid 2007 and common place in our home in 2009.

My mum and Stepdad died a few years ago. I have had his slide collection and old projector for many years. I remember affectionately as a young girl having slide nights. I have been meaning to go through all the slides and yesterday I finally did. There were many scenic photos and few family photos and photos of a times well before my stepfather met my mum travelling around our great country in his earlier years.

I captured a few of my favourites and thought I’d share them with you. An era gone by.

I chose these photos because they capture a moment in time. A street shot with parked cars and TAA and Ansett Airlines. These cars are now vintage. Ansett and TAA were popular Australian airlines employing thousands of Australians. It was a historic time in Australia when these airlines shut down. They were very much related to my childhood. It felt quite nostalgic to see this signage in the photos.

Streetscape photos. I wonder if in 30 or 40 years photos we take of an object that has incidental other objects in it will become the attraction of the photo. I looked at these photos and thought how I take a photo of a building or person and cars are parked incidentally in the street and how now cars in these photos are what brings joy to look at.

People and fashion of the era is also intriguing to view. These photos below I do not know the people. The pictures tell a story in themselves.

We take photos of days shared with friends at the beach or just hanging out on hot summer days. Water and beaches are such a big part of Australian life. Here’s a glimpse at the past.

Family photos I cherish. Before smart phones and digital technology when developing photos was expensive we didn’t take many. So the odd photo of yourself or family is precious. Below is me sitting on the pier and diving in. We loved jumping off the pier as kids during summer holidays at the beach.

My parents divorced when I was quite young, around age 7. Below are a couple family photos of my mum and dad together. My stepdad and mum were friends prior to my parents divorce. So here there’s a glimpse into my childhood years of times with family friends. All these people in this photo have a place in my life growing up.

My mum in the white skirt sitting with dad. Me in the front smiling. I remember that top I have on.

My dad after separating from mum often mentioned her weight that she had gained and would say she’d let herself go. My mum was a fashionista but I thought as a kid those blue bathers she wore was because she was ‘fat’. I look at her now as I sit and place slide after slide manually through the vintage projector, a clicking noise as I slide each photo into place pushing the metal device across, fan whirring from the machine and think as I sit in the dark, no way, she looked great. My sister relays she gained her weight when menopausal not in her early years. I always remember my mum until her cancer as a bigger woman. My childhood mental images are blurred by my later images in my mind.

Her earlier years

A day at Kryal Castle Victoria Australia. Me on the left.

We weren’t a wealthy family after my mums divorce and mum picked us up in this old car from school. I used to be so embarrassed having to hop in it in the parents pick up area. Now, what a classic that blue Ford Falcon is! The stuff of Legends.

A classic picture of the Trans Australian Railway, before the Indian Pacific. The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. It includes a 478-kilometre stretch of dead-straight track, the world’s longest, between the 797 km post west of Ooldea and the 1,275 km post west of Loongana.

My step dad liked trains. Photo also taken from his slide collection

Royalty coming to Australia always creates excitement. I like this image with a boy captured running beside the Rolls Royse and following motorcade. Something out of the JFK era.