I am fascinated by old photos of people and often think a picture of strangers would be a wonderful starting point for writing something. here is a picture of some men and boys who were something to do with a pottery and tile business… I can’t remember now exactly what. It doesn’t really matter; here are six men who could be any age between their twenties and forties, and two lads who could be between fourteen and twenty. They are all quite smartly dressed with collars and ties… and collars would have been detachable then with collar studs to hold them to the shirt. They are all looking quite confidently at the camera, they see at ease with being there, quite relaxed. They aren’t smiling, but maybe smiling wasn’t what was expected because this is some sort of work photo, quite a serious setting, but not totally formal. The man on the left is sitting quite easily with an almost roguish look, the man in the middle is slightly slouched in his chair, and the one on the right, has folded his arms and has an expression of boredom or impatience. The lad behind his right shoulder looks as if he has his hands in his pockets, the man in the centre has his hands behind his back and a patient look on his face. The two standing on the right have little expression, just waiting for the photo to be taken. I can’t remember what date the photo was, because a date would give a clue to the sort of name the men would have; names have always gone in and out of fashion, I can see the patterns reoccurring as I explore my family history.
If I was going to write about these men, I wouldn’t necessarily have them as work colleagues; maybe they would be a family of relations, maybe they would have some other reason for knowing each other… maybe they are just strangers on a train in my story, eight passengers in a railway carriage on the way to… Well, their destination maybe part of the story!
Lois Elsden 