Black and White Stories

My darkroom phase wasn’t as much about learning
to see in black & white or teasing the image
out of a negative as it was about nostalgia.
Learning the details of a photo by tracing
my finger over the lines and shades
of a colorless image was like a journey
into the past. My past, and yours.
My early years were captured
primarily in black & white.
Now, as then, I find a story
in those gray shades.

Each time I view the one photo I have of you
as a child I discover new details.

A photo of us, together, says as much
about your life as it does about mine.

And my favorite photo of you, taken
during my darkroom phase.

I trace those lines and find stories.

The photos here are mine
My father (3 years old?)
Sitting on my father’s lap
My…