Without fail, most of us look at a photograph, take in the surface image and then dismiss it to the trash bin in our mind. I have been guilty of this especially when I was younger. Today I am literally a photo freak. When I come across a batch of old photograph’s, trying to get my attention for something else is like screaming my name in the Gand Canyon while I am a thousand miles away. I see a story in each one I study. At first you see just the major image. A car, building or a group of people. Most of the time, like I stated… we just take in the obvious and dismiss it.
Scroll down to the picture below. What do you see? An old car. A church in the background. A lady driving the car. It is decorated with ribbon. There are people around the car.From the style of the automobile it is 1915-20 at the latest. (That information is obvious only if you are familiar with the evolution of the automobile.) We have then dated the photo.
That is a step past the “interesting” image. Old car…. People in front of a church. End of story to some.
What type of building in the background? A church building. I recognise it as a church I have seen photo’s of before. It is from Alexandria. The building is the old Saint James Episcopal Church. The one that replaced this is located on Bolton Avenue. This would be elusive, if you were not able to do research.
So we know where it was taken…
Now..lets look at the car carefully. Do you see something after studying it in detail? Flags. Ribbon streamers on the car..What kind of flags? Confederate battle flags.
What do we have here? A Klan rally? Not quite. Once again..more than meets the eye or instant assumption….It is a celebration or event.
Look at the people behind the car, now. To the left you see them. Old grizzled veterans of a war fought when they were youngsters. They wear the Confederate style uniform hat’s. Then we know, it was a ceremony to recognise the sacrifices these men made long ago. (It makes no difference what you may think of the popular opinions of today.) These men served their country as Union soldiers served theirs. Nothing more, nothing less.
This is just an old photograph of a church, a car and some people.
(Or is it?)
Alex
A Church, a car and some people.
