In all my life I could never claim (nor could anyone who knew me) that I was ever fashionable when it came to the clothes I wore. For example, look at the flared trousers I'm wearing in the above photo taken sometime in 1978. I was around 19 and flares had been out of fashion for two or three years as far as I recall. However, this post isn't really about fashion, it's just me self-indulgently reminiscing about my past and marvelling at how recent these photographs feel to me, while at the same time seeming as if they were taken long ago and far away in an age now lost to history. (As all ages eventually are in the fullness of time.)
Despite my hyperbole I can yet recall where these pics of me and my then-pal were taken though. The first two were on the roof of a derelict farmhouse and riding stable which later became a pub called Whitehills Farm. (It closed only a few months back.) The photo-booth pic was taken in my Town Centre post office, and is, I think, the only one (barring his wedding photos in Portsmouth that same year on December 15th) of the two of us together at the same time. Looking at the first two, it reminds me that, even as 19 year-olds, the pair of us still explored places we had no right to be. Dangerous places too, as the building was a ruin and could easily have collapsed under us.
These days my memory isn't always as reliable as it used to be, so I was unsure whether these pics were taken before or after his marriage until I re-read a letter from him postmarked January 16th '79, asking why he hadn't heard from me since the 'big day' (thus before). So, 46 years ago captured in a few photographs, prolonging the moments and the time they depict long past their natural shelf-life. Truly, a camera is a brilliant invention - probably one of the most remarkable in human history. It can be a pleasant experience looking through old photographs, but sometimes also a painful one, as we're reminded of those who are no longer around and just how old and decrepit we've become.
I've got thousands of photos and it's sad to think that they only really mean something to me as nobody else would be interested in them. So many moments frozen in time that will one day be discarded when I'm no longer around to look at and enjoy them. 'This Is My Life', but it's a life that cuts no ice with anyone else when it comes to preserving a photographic record of it. It's quite a sobering thought to realise that, in the great scheme of things, we're really not as significant as we'd like to think we are. Ah, 1978 - where did you sneak off to when I wasn't looking? And that goes for every year before or since.
Do you enjoy looking through your old photos, readers, or are your past fashion mistakes and embarrassing hairstyles something you'd much rather prefer to forget? The comments section awaits your input if you'd like to visit. Don't be shy now.
