Exploring a photograph album

On my first visit aboard LV21 Païvi had shared a photograph album with me that had been gifted to the ship a couple of years ago.  The photographs were taken by someone who had died, and their family were unsure what to do with them but felt they were significant.

I've been gently intrigued by the album and what it meant to someone, especially in relation to the theme of Pride. There are photographs of different sorts of ships, most are obviously taken from Gravesend, some maybe taken from the water.

Some of the photographs have names of the ships featured in them written along the bottom. Some are unnamed. There are also details of the lens size used on some. I've tried to date the photos, and think they are maybe late1950s, early 1960s. There are some Bawley Boats which suggest the earlier end of this age range.

The album represents a real investment of time, and resources. Not just in the taking and developing of the photographs but also in their presentation, the details that have been recorded. There's something almost tender about it. I think about the traces we leave behind.

I also did some research into the two named ships, Orion and Arcadia. The Orion was a large Orient Line ship, built in the UK in 1934,  that took passengers to Australia. The Arcadia was built between 1950 and 1960 and was a cruise liner, there are photographs of her at ports all over the world.

When it was time to return all the resources to LV21 I realised I had grown very fond of this album, with its very particular smell of card and old paper. So I took some photos of it on deck. I hope you enjoy these images and the details of the album as much as I have.

  






















Playing with the sheets of tissue paper that sit between the photographs. I loved the spider web texture.

  




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