Oldie/Goodie.

I spent the weekend at my grandparents in Keelung, and it occured to me to flip through the old family photo albums. Why this had never occured to me, I don't know.

The photographs were amazing. Amazing in quality. The prevalence of point-and-shoots have killed our expectations on cameras - if they can focus on what we want them to focus on that's all we care about. The average consumer doesn't care about how much control they have over the shot if the colors come out right and if the subject is in focus.

I'm guessing cause cameras were a lot more expensive in the early 1900's that most of the people who had them took them seriously, along with the klunky optics that each one came with.

It was a real headtrip to see my grandparents, and their own parents as kids, along with American cars from the 20's and 30's, always impeccably formally dressed (suits, ties, dresses).

It was also a headtrip to see my grandparents dressed in 50's/60's american style, with all the trappings (hair, fashion etc.) I can only shudder to think of how much they must have sweat in that weather with so much on. I get the vibe that they were very well-to-do in the early 1900's, with a lot of social mobility (owning property, cars, opening businesses in Singapore/HK/TW).

The sheer size of the clan-portraits baffle me, with each son having a several children of their own...and then they were scattered to the four winds.

Someday it'll be my turn too. I want to start it over. My children will probably grow up in the States, they probably won't think of themselves as Chinese, but I want to give them the strong family that I saw in those portraits.