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Three days ago we asked you to submit your favorite family photo. Today, we present to you three of our early favorites and the wonderfully touching stories behind them. May they inspire you to submit your own photo to win that $500 Best Buy gift card and have your photo and story shared right here on My Modern Met.
Two Before Me (My Mother and My Grandmother) by Ray Laskowitz (above)
“I was one of those people who was born to be a photographer. As a friend says, ‘It's what we do.' When I first started out, I was a newspaper photographer. I photographed everything. By that, I mean everything. My mom (the younger woman on the left) asked me to come for a visit to the assisted living home where my grandmother was living.
“At the time, my grandmother was in her early nineties. It had been a while since I had seen her. I realized that she was aging rapidly so I thought it would be a good idea to photograph her so my mom sort of moved in to make her pretty. As my mom was smoothing my grandmother's clothes, they started talking very slowly. I started taking pictures. When I was done I asked my mom what they said to each other. My mom just smiled and shook her head, ‘no.' Maybe a week or two later, my grandmother passed. A few years later, it was my mom's turn. So, yes. This picture really means something me. “
Family at the Beach with Our Hero, Our Uncle by Savannah Eileen Abbott
“As a kid, me and my family had a very rough time. My father became addicted to drugs and committed crimes such as theft, kidnapping, possession of illegal substances and more. My mom moved us to a small town to get away from all the bad going on around us. As much as we all appreciated what she did for us, we were now stuck in a small deadbeat town.
“Us kids' (shown in the picture) only salvation was our aunt and uncle. We looked up to them more than words could even describe, and one day they packed us up and we spent a family day at the beach (Salt Creek, Port Angeles, Washington). That was one of the best days I can remember and even still today the kids and my aunt and uncle will make our way to the beach to have a peaceful family day.”
A Wacky Bunch by Austin James Harter
“My family has been so spread out for the past few years that it was pretty rare that we'd all get together at the same time. However, recently my brother, his girlfriend and their wee one move back to our home town. Score! Only problem is that my sister and her children live 3,000 miles away. The come to visit once every summer. This past summer was one of the first times that we'd all been together for more than a couple days. Was really nice.
“As usually, my mom wanted to get pictures. You know, the usual family portrait kind of shots that every gets. And we get them at every family gathering. I guarantee every family in this crazy world we live has them too. It occurred to me that we should have something different. I look back at all those photos we have of our family and think, ‘Wow! That's us…smiling nice…looking…happy. Cool…It's missing something…' What's it missing? The wonkiness that every family hides from the camera. Yep, I got them to let it out. Of course, my grandmother was the only one that kept it together. She's such the proper lady. I love this moment. It's my family and I love them.”
Now as a reminder, here's how to enter:
1. Upload your best/favorite family memory photo to Flickr.
2. When uploading, mark your photo as “public” and tag it with #CapturedPhotoContest_MyModernMet
3. In the comments section of this post, provide a link to your Flickr photo AND a short story behind the shot.
You can find the full set of rules in the first post and see all of the entries here. Remember, you have until midnight on December 24, 2011 to share your best family photo (up to 5 of them). Good luck!
