A Life Before You

2 March 2025

Had my mother not ventured into a career in nursing and academia (of which thousands benefited no doubt) she could quite possibly have been a successful photographer.

She spent some time in Canada nursing in the late 1960s (and Scotland before that too). Quebec I believe it was. She saw fit to carry a half-frame camera of some description to document her life there. She never spoke to me about any of the photographs she made there. It was just the done thing when travelling, unlike the current age we live in where everyone thinks that every photograph they take is a masterpiece for social consumption.

From the few slides I’ve managed to scan, they convey to me someone who’s composition was instinctive. I think I’m only scratching the surface of her slide ‘archive’. Outside of our family there’s no real historical significance to them. I have no doubt there would be millions of families and billions of slides from the 1960s that are only held in private regard like these are. To her these may have been just snapshots. To her family they show a life before us.