Monday, March 23, 2009

research



So this morning I was doing a little research, barking up one of the branches of Anna's family tree to see if I could gather any information about when our beautiful baldie might grow a hair or two. No rush, of course, just curious. I found this photo, taken over 34 years ago. I must be about 6 months old. In the hair department, you might call that growth pretty sparse. But I've got a full head now, which is reassuring. What strikes me is the steady way, in this picture, my skinny daddy and I look into the camera's eye. It's one of those pictures that make you feel stared at. And while the eyes of the subjects are 34 years older, the quality of the looking still seems immediate. Which sort of collapses one's sense of time and space. Which makes me think that while all of these pictures of Anna we're taking will become part of her own long, long ago, the quality of her steady gaze into the camera's eye won't age.

5 comments:

  1. What a beautiful picture of you and Mark! If you scroll down from that picture to Anna's 4 month old picture, you see the shape and direction of Anna's eyes are just like her grandpa's in the photo of the 2 of you! The hair will grow, the gaze will continue.

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  2. This picture is also evidence that the young blue eyed beauty (Anna) does indeed bare a strong resemblance to her momma!

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  3. the gaze.see wiki cognitive psychology,60s french intellectuals,la cans analysis(le regard), and feminist theory. something about being stared at and staring eh.more proof that we are alive and better yet the depth of attachment we have to those we love.the skinny guy with the baby!

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  4. When I first looked at the picture I thought "Who the hell IS that? It's not Paul and then I realized that it is and was our own beloved Mark, the wicked cool grandpa. What a great picture and how handsome he looked. I remember you, Zoe, at that age. A.J. has the most amazing smile!

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  5. Ah, the gaze, how fierce you were even then, Zo. It does seem, indeed, that sweet Anna gets her intensity honestly. Miss you two. Xo.

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