THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS ....

THERE ARE HUNDREDS of photographs in our keeping, recorded through the years. What do we see in them? Memories, images , recollections, historical facts etc. Many a time we just had only brief glances, dismissing those that were irrelevant and unrelated to what we were focusing at the moment. Now  looking at them again I find there are hordes of wealth and fact that we could derive rather  than  put them aside just because they don't show our own pictures or that of those that we know. Then you are only thinking only of images that you recognize or like.  

But these photos which you yourself chose to place your finger on the camera's shutter and therefore record them for posterity unless of course you have erased them off  tell lots of things.   I am thinking of  our dressing as one factor. Let's look at them and discover what we chose and how we dress. Therefore the subject  THE STORY BEHIND THE  PHOTOGRAPHS - WHAT WE WEAR depicted our choice to be seen. Particularly the children  unless the very fussy and choosy ones left all to their parents to make the choice too. Did we do right? Do we dress  them rightly?


Each one of us, depending when the photos were taken would have our own opinion, no doubt struck by the cost of things, the popularity of the moment and how much we could afford .

 This is one of my early photos recorded on a colored slide and later transferred to print. The young girl would be married with a family of her own now .It was taken in a room at Cathay Hotel Singapore 1964. Even the hotel is no more though the name still stands representing a new one at the same site. Observe the flooring and of course the dressing. No departure I think from the present choice except maybe the polka -dots cloth is not easily available. Her hair do, any mother would have loved to bind them with a rubber band.

 This is one of my favourite pictures taken with a box camera way back in 1949 when our classmates took to cycling to a sea side bungalow near Yan in Kedah about forty kilometers away from Alor Setar town. Yes we cycled on our Hercules and Raleigh bicycles. I wonder whether our parents knew where we headed too. Dressing? Your choice is as good as mine. Shirtless would be the best attire. Many known persons in the pix too. The writer is in white round neck T shirt in the middle of last row. Stripes seen to be a popular choice too. Shorts were favourite and even 'sarong 'were good choice too. Every one would remember the occasion since we were frightened away in the night and saw us cycling home the very next day.    

Wow another pretty girl who has also grown up to have a family of  her own. Picture taken in Brunei 1963. She must be a choosy lady, making sure she had socks on. Thankfully I could connect to her parents. Would little girls have choices like this still or the fashion has changed? Hair-do?  Trimmed and short.

   The mother chose to carry her baby on a safe chair attached to her bicycle. She was dressed properly in jeans and attired with a hat and a small bag strapped to her back. The cool autumn weather in Osaka Japan perhaps encouraged her to enjoy the sights of the city with the family.  

The writer was warmly clad while his Japanese volunteer tourist guide chose the proper attire to meet the weather in Osaka too. He carried a small bag containing papers etc relevant to give whatever information required if necessary. In Japan volunteer tourist guides are available upon prior notice who would accompany you to see the city or places of interest. Mind you GRATIS and you ended up with true friendship. Meanwhile a person caught in the picture seems preoccupied to have his breakfast while crossing the road.For the tourist guide you have to give advanced notice if you require their service. They had good walking shoes necessary to walk the miles when touring the city.

     Now would this the proper attire for a person serving 'nasi-kandar' at a stall? One of the client must be in a hurry as he still had his crash helmet on. Notice the choice of colors.

    Head dress for the ladies may be the right subject for this picture. The colors too seems to be a combination factor to be considered,

Yes not often we have the chance to be attired like this. The bath robe provided at a hotel I was staying in Japan helped to keep me warm and perhaps encouraged in whatever way good exercise at the computer. One of those days you seemed to have the hair combed smartly

Last but not least, I clicked the shutter and had this picture of two colleagues as they stepped out of the mosque in Canberra Australia after a Friday prayer Both have settled in Australia but attired as any one you would see at home. The gentleman on the left obviously cared for his dressing. Even his socks matched with his shirt. ha ha.The white 'kopiah' has become a popular choice, being light. 

Thank you for fleeting through the above being a departure from my normal observation but obviously a factor to think of with all the photos in our stock. A new direction at discovering their worth maybe.