Finding Writing Inspiration in a Photograph

This summer I participated in a writing workshop held at our local library. The instructor offered several different ways to make a start on writing about our ancestors. One such method was to use a photograph as inspiration. 

For one sharing exercise, we were to bring a family photograph to the session. We were grouped with a few other participants, and were to ask our group members what they noticed about our photograph. It was really interesting to see what others commented on that I hadn't seen, and for them to begin to create a narrative about what the photograph might have meant, why it was taken, who the photographer was, etc. 

I chose to bring a photo that was shared with me by my cousin, which pictures of a group of people gathered around a car in an outdoor setting with trees in the background. When I first saw the photograph a few years ago, I could not determine who was in it, but then someone pointed out that the young fella sitting on the ground looked like my grandfather, Joseph John Gilbride, as a boy. I blew the photo up on my computer and certainly could make out Grandpa's tell-tale ears. He had a good deal of dark hair as a boy, when I only really remember him being mostly bald with a fringe of white hair gathered around his head.¹

Close up of Grandpa, sitting on the ground in photo.

Discovering that the photo included Grandpa helped me identify a few others in the photo, including his father John Joseph Gilbride and his mother Margaret McAndrew Gilbride. I theorize some of the other young men might have been Grandpa's brothers, as he was the youngest of the four. One of the other women pictured might be Margaret's mother Ann Kelly McAndrew.

Based on other photos, I can identify these folks as Margaret McAndrew Gilbride and John Gilbride, my great-grandparents.

After this exercise, we were given time in class to begin to write about our photograph. I decided to tell a story about what was happening that day from Grandpa's viewpoint. Of course, I cannot know for certain what the occasion was, but I know enough about Grandpa's life and his family through my research to creatively build a story about what might have been happening on the day pictured. 

Here's what I wrote:

The grass is scratchy. So are my clothes. I hate this suit, but Mother made me wear it to church for Mass this morning. “Joseph Gilbride,” she said, “Don’t forget your hat.” That hat! It sits on my big ears and it’s itchy too!

Father wanted Harold to take a photo of us in front of his new car. So, we all piled out and gathered around the car and I sat on the ground. Father, Mother, Donald, and Grandmother McAndrew were all in the photo too. Mother even put her new hat on for the photo. She looks pretty when she’s dressed up for church, instead of in her apron.

Father’s car is a Ford Model B with a canvas roof and a windscreen that folds down. Today is sunny, but we have the roof on so that Mother and Grandmother don’t get their hair mussed. When it rains while we’re driving, though, I like to hear the tapping sound it makes on that roof.

It was fun to get to ride in Father’s new car. In Scranton where we used to live, we walked everywhere. Nothing was too far apart, and you could walk everywhere you needed to go, like school or church or the butchers.

Here in Cleveland, things are different, and farther apart. Father sometimes needs a car to get us to places. None of my friends’ fathers have a car, so it’s pretty neat.

Cleveland is on a big lake. Lake Erie. Sometimes we drive to the lake shore, and I can’t believe how far it is to the other side. My brother Donald says that Canada is on the other side, but I’m not sure I believe him. We had rivers in Scranton, but nothing like that lake.

I can’t wait until the picnic later. I’ve been waiting all week for it to get here. I hope my friends from school will be there. There is sure to be lots of food–sandwiches, cakes, lemonade – maybe even some ice cream. We’ll have to wait until Father O’Malley blesses the food before we eat – no sneaking anything, or I’ll get a whipping!

My stomach is rumbling and I’m thirsty too. I can almost smell the food from here. Some lemonade would taste good right now.

Just one more photo and we can get back in the car and go to the picnic. Maybe Mother will let me take off my jacket and hat then. After the picnic, I hope Father puts the top down, so we can feel the breeze." 

 

There are many ways to approach writing about our families and our research, and it's nice to be inspired and to write creatively. This little story weaves in many facts that I can prove, such as where the family lived, and the people in Grandpa's family, all drawn from my research. I can also describe geographic elements of Cleveland based on my own knowledge, such as its proximity to Lake Erie. I included a few details on the car which were suggested by my workshop group. 

This is just one story that could be suggested by the photo. One might write from the perspective of one of the other individuals in the photo, or the person who was behind the camera. Was this a new car that Great Grandpa Gilbride just bought? Or did it belong to one of the others? Was it a picnic that the family was going to, or some other occasion? There are many jumping off points to get the "creative juices" flowing.

Of course, it would be wonderful to know the real story behind the photo. But given that everyone in the photo is long gone, it may be impossible to ever really know. In cases like this a creative story can bring a photograph to life.

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

 

NOTES 

¹ Unknown photographer, undated photo picturing Margaret McAndrew Gilbride, John Joseph Gilbride, and Joseph John Gilbride, and others, circa 1920; personal collection of R. Firestone, Willowick, Ohio, 2024.