Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A Photo and Pencast

A few months ago, my mother was going through boxes of old photographs and finding some very interesting things. As a result, she sent me a little photo album with pictures through the years. I thought I'd share some of them with you and combine them with a pencast, because it's been a while since I did a pencast. So, here you go, from very little Emily to present-day Emily (and a few shots of family members to boot. Apologies to my siblings, because I'm sure they're all going to complain about how horrible they look in all these photos. I don't agree, and I bet no one else does, either).

Set #1 (click on each set to enlarge it, so you can actually see it):
Can you believe my mother made all those Halloween costumes for us? And I think I was squeezing Forsyth a little too tight in that one photo. She looks quite uncomfortable. And here's an interesting detail in that picture where I'm holding Panda: on the right you can see a tree hanging on the wall. My mother made that out of cut-out fabrics, and in and around the tree are an owl (Ian's favorite animal at the time), a dog (Lindsay's), a horse (Forsyth's), and a frog (mine). Sweet, huh? I'd forgotten all about that until I saw this picture. (Also, if you look really closely, you will see I'm wearing some extremely mod pants with some sort of flower or paisley or combination-of-the-two design. I don't remember them at all, but how cool. I recently bought a somewhat similar pair.)

Set #2: The expression on my face in that Battle Abbey photo is the expression that seems to have been on my face in every single photo that was taken of me between the ages of 14 and 17. I don't think of myself as having been a particularly sullen teenager, but the photos tell a different story. In the second photo, I have no idea what airport the four of us are in, but it looks like we're seeing Lindsay off (probably to England or Scotland, since she's laden down with that all-weather coat she's carrying).


Set #3: One of the few good things one of my ex-boyfriends ever did for me was to have a series of professional portraits done. I'm usually terribly un-photogenic, but those turned out quite well, and I remember being very surprised by the results (just goes to show what touching up can do and why we should never compare ourselves to models, because all we ever see of them are professional portraits). And here's proof that, as I always say, my wedding day was the happiest day of my life. Don't I just look so happy? I must say, Bob looks pretty happy, too. That "Easter" picture was actually taken a couple of nights before Easter (which was my parents' anniversary), at a local restaurant that's in an old tavern.


So, tell me: have I changed much over the years?

12 comments:

Amanda said...

I don't think you've changed much.

You look a little bit like my sister. I'd say we are definitely from similiar gene pools

Anne Camille said...

Having never seen pictures of you before nor having never met you, I'd say that I'd be able to identify your baby picture based on the Easter picture. Bob & his brother look alike, and you certainly take after your Dad.

And the photo at Battle Abbey -- I'd guess circa 1978 - 80 based on dress (Those boots! Those skirts! Docksiders! hehehe).

I love looking at old pictures. My sister recently put together a photo montage for my mother's 80th birthday. I laughed so much looking at 55+ years of photos of my (ahem, obviously much older) siblings. :)

Anonymous said...

Yes, I'd say you've changed a little bit! Great photos - thanks for sharing them. It was fun to remember the eighties (and the seventies) through someone else's eyes.

Rebecca H. said...

Oh, those pictures are fun!! It's great to know what you look like in person and then to see those old pictures of you when you were a kid and to pick out the resemblance.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh. I don't know what I thought you looked like but your pictures totally don't match my imagination. I loved them! How very fun. And you are too photogenic - beautiful! Thanks, that was really cool.

Anonymous said...

Unlike Courtney, I can't say I am surprised by the pictures. Like with most illustrations portraying fiction heroes, the key clues are in the text. Not that you are fictitious, obviously.

Emily Barton said...

Ms. Make Tea, oh I'm sue we're from similar gene pools (those Scottish dancing ones).

Cam, yes you got the Battle Abbey date right. The sad thing is that we might have been the height of fashion in the U.S., but we'd just moved to England where we were hopelessly out of it with our peers there (luckily, they cut us slack, because we were American). And I love looking at old photos, too. Why don't you post some of yours?

Pete, glad you enjoyed them.

Dorr, I think my eyes have stayed the same, and my hair color (with the exception of the bright red when I was a baby).

Court, well beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this beholder doesn't see it, but glad you do.

Mandarine, now how do you know I'm not fictitious? Or at least a ghost? :-)!

Anonymous said...

Nah. Your outline on the pictures is too crispy. And I know you do not have the skills to manipulate sharpness and alpha layer to remove a halo and enhance opacity on a digitized picture (yet).

Emily Barton said...

Mandarine, awwww, you know me too well!

Anonymous said...

The pictures are wonderful! For some reason I imagined you long dark hair. What fun! You are getting quite good at the scanning and posting of images. You are never allowed to say you are not good at computers again! :)

Susan said...

thanks for sharing the photos! they are fun to look at, and you haven't really changed - you look like your baby photo - something about the eyes and chin. Funny, you didn't at first look like I pictured (like Stefanie, I thought dark hair) but in the more recent pictures, I can see you. And Bob looks totally like I thought he would be! Now I can picture you writing snarky things! and you have a NY look to you too, something my friends who love NY (and one of my sisters who does too) also has. Most be some glamour from the city rubbing off. I love London England, which has a different patina (I think. I could be rambling now. It's 12:30 am.) Or else I'm just fooling myself and I look middle-aged!!! And yes to your computer skills....you are far ahead of me!

Emily Barton said...

Stef, okay, I won't say I'm no good at computers again (or at least not until the next thing comes along that I can't do that the twelve-year-old down the street can do in his sleep). And I must be sending wishful-thinking vibes over the line, because I always wanted dark (preferably black) hair.

Susan, how funny Bob looks exactly the way you thought he would. I never would have expected that, since I don't think I've ever described him physically much at all.