Family Archives : April 2020

ENOCH BURNETT AND BETTY : Enoch Burnett pictured with his dog, Betty. The picture shows Enoch aged around 30, which would mean it was taken in 1908 or there about. By then, he had been married for three years and already had three children: John Arthur (b.1899); Miriam (b.1901); and Annie Elizabeth (b.1903).

A Toe In The Sea

A family photograph from, probably, the summer of 1950. The small child is me, the head and shoulder belong to my brother, Roger, and the knees belong to my father, Albert. I suspect the photograph was taken at Bridlington, and I suspect that the North Sea was as cold then as it is now.

Young Girl With A Basket

This is a photograph of a young girl carrying a basket. It is my attempt to match this week's Sepia Saturday prompt image - which is a photograph of a young girl carrying a basket. The prompt photograph dates from the early years of the twentieth century, and my little photograph is of a similar … Continue reading Young Girl With A Basket

Posing On A Beach

Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week shows three men posing on a beach in California. My submission is one very young man posing on a beach in Yorkshire. The young man in question is my brother, the artist and sculptor, Roger Burnett. The date must have been sometime I'm the mid to late 1940s, … Continue reading Posing On A Beach

The Girl With The Awfully Big Hat

This tiny photograph was pasted onto the back page of the postcard album of my mother's uncle, Fowler Beanland. It was only when the print was scanned and cleaned up that I begun to fully appreciate it for the charming portrait that it was: a picture of a little girl with an awfully big hat. … Continue reading The Girl With The Awfully Big Hat

The Fat Tummy Of Princess Alix

This rather chubby baby was the first photograph in one of my parent's photograph albums. Theoretically it should be either me or my brother, but it looks nothing like Roger, and I have never been that fat. I tried facial recognition: Lightroom suggested it was my son, whilst Google suggested that it was Princess Alix … Continue reading The Fat Tummy Of Princess Alix

Experiments With A DNA Camera

Stories abound about so-called primitive tribes who would shun photographers in the belief that cameras can capture the spirit of the photographers' subjects. As with many such stories, it is of dubious veracity: but if such tribes ever did exist I have a degree of sympathy with their beliefs. Nothing comes close to capturing the … Continue reading Experiments With A DNA Camera

Why Not Have It Enlarged?

What a wonderful invention: a machine that takes your photograph and weighs you at the same time. And even better - it prints the resulting weight on the photograph so that you have something to remind you of that day you had an extra large portion of fish and chips, not to mention the knickerbocker glory.

Talking To Gladys

Scanning and retouching old photographs is a little like doing a jig-saw puzzle - it allows you to get up close to detail. Cast a passing glance at a photograph from eighty-odd years ago - you can use this photograph of my mother, Gladys, on the seaside sands as an example - and you might … Continue reading Talking To Gladys