As I try to get my fledgling website to fly out of the nest, I realized I should attempt this thing called a blog. For this first blog, I decided to talk about a project that also is in its fledgling stage. Having recently had to empty out my parents’ house, which they had lived in since 1961 (although my dad passed in 2002), I made a point to make sure any photos they had were boxed up so that I could work on archiving them.

There were a few previous generations of photographers in the family, including my dad, who had his camera with him when he served in the US Navy in the Pacific Theater from 1945-1946. Fortunately, with the help of some eagle-eyed friends and family, I found all of the negatives from his Naval service. He continued to photograph all the way through getting married, having kids (my brother and I) and later, right up until his death. Archiving his photographic history is quite a daunting task, but one I have to accomplish. The difficulty is not only the volume, but also not having all of the stories behind the photos. He left behind some other items that I am hoping will shed a little light on what he took, particularly before I was born. In the first photo in this post, that’s him in uniform (taken in April 1947). That uniform is in storage currently.

This project will take years. I have only barely scratched the surface, but some of these first photos I have already digitized have provided a glimpse into the man I knew, but also who I didn’t know. But, beyond his history, at the same time, he captured history around him- in the Navy, and when he settled in Chicago after the war and became a civilian again. For example, he took photos of the city from vantage points that I have taken in my work.

The featured photo in this blog is a photo my dad took, looking south down Damen Ave. from the Damen Avenue elevated CTA stop in September 1946. The last photo is one I took last summer, from just about the same spot he took his. Although, at the time I took mine, I had no idea he had taken the same photo nearly 70 years ago. This journey has just started, and I cannot wait to see what other treasures he left behind! I hope you all will join me on this journey!