Photographs

I wrote this song in August, 1982. I remember that I had recently read Susan Sontag's book 'On Photography' which was published in the UK around 1978. I was sensitive to the voyeuristic nature of photography, which is something she discusses in her book. At that time, my partner and I were taking quite a lot of black and white photos and developing them in a small makeshift darkroom (which soon after became our daughter's bedroom, when she was born).

The song is slightly haunting and, by referring to the milestone snap shots that appear in family albums, hints at the passage of time and one's movement through the life cycle. Here is the third verse:

The evidence, the proof that it took place and we were there
The evidence, to show to those we love, to those who care
A wedding feast, a birthday party or a holiday
For all to see, on photograph.

I'm afraid that this is one of the songs that I can now no longer play. I guess I could sit down and try to re-learn it from the CD and maybe I shall do that one day.

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