Nineteen Fifties Family Album

INTRODUCTION

While looking for something in a cupboard in his grandfather's house, photographer Calum Clezy came across a hidden trove of family images. Carefully pasted into a government-issue notebook from his grandfather's National Service in the 1950s, was a close-to-complete collection of informal family pictures. The images span the period from before his grandparent's marriage, to the early years of the young couple's life together, including their early family life. The collection ends with childhood images of Calum's own father and uncle.

The photographs had not been an often-looked-at part of the family's narrative about themselves, and so had a freshness for everyone who looked at them.
To the outside reader, the images present as fresh and touching. Like any collection of family pictures, they pose as many questions as they offer stories, or provide answers. The images themselves are strong, clear, well-composed, and often without formal posing from the participants. Geographically, the images were made in small villages, towns and farms in the East Neuk of Fife, and in Lanarkshire. These locations, mostly, are unfamiliar to viewers, and the fact that they are not a traditional part of Scotland's landscape narrative adds to the originality of the collection.

The story can be read on many levels - the history of the young couple, the setting of the times, the changes across time and place, the wondering about the subjects’ interior lives... In his presentation of these photographs, Calum Clezy wisely leaves the interpretation to the viewer.

I wish all readers the pleasure of their journey with these fascinating images.

Jennifer T. Doherty
The Smokehouse Gallery, Eyemouth, Scotland
February 2009