These Died With You

by Paige Young

“Humans hold onto photographs, items, and objects that hold memories or stories of the loved ones who have passed away. We may have no actual connection to the physical person who once held these narratives, yet because the stories were explained to us, or because we have been told they are connected to our family, we keep them. Without these explanations or experiences, items that we find in attics, homes, or spaces that need to be cleaned out would be considered junk and often would be tossed away.

My grandfather passed away in 2024, and when he moved out of his home and into a care center, I acquired many of our family photo albums. Some found images contained reproductions of my family from the 1850s through the early 1900s. These people are strangers to me. While my grandmother was still alive, I decided to take these photographs and ask the story behind them, and she shared with me my grandfather’s lineage and family history. These photographs are more impactful to me now; however, the people still are unknown to me personally.

The more distant these narratives are, the more unclear the stories resonate with me which is shown to the viewer from reproduction in the darkroom. We assume or hope that our family history includes ‘good’ and ‘decent’ people, but the truth is we will never know. The closer the timeline gets to our time of living, the more we are familiar with the setting, characters in our story, and the situations that came about. Without these handed-down tales, these stories would die with those who were told them last. Without my questions, these stories would die, and without me telling anyone else about them, these stories will end with me.”