Family Lessons 143: Family Photograph

Are the dull expressions just typical Victorian/Edwardian formality, or is there an underlying tension on their faces?

All was not well. The boys had been chasing horses the morning of the photograph and ‘muckied’ their Sunday best. A good telling off was duly given, and then all had to appear civil and neat for the family portrait of 1902: stains rubbed off, heads brushed, collars straightened. My 2x great-grandparents sit at either end, and Edward, my great-grandfather, looks a little less sullen than the rest (second from the left, standing). They were tenant farmers at Darwen in Lancashire, on land belonging to Viscount Halifax; they worked hard but were not wealthy. This formal group photograph would have been a luxury which more middle-class families usually enjoyed, and one for which the parents may have felt was nearly wasted on account of their five boys’ horsey shenanigans.

In formal family portraits there may be tensions and strained expressions. Behind many a wedding picture there are doubts and apprehensions. Behind the grins of school photos, there are fears of bullies, teachers or exams. Forced smiles and politeness are usually masks for hardship and pain, fears and anxieties. Only the joy which Jesus offers cannot be snuffed out by circumstances, past or present. We smile because of where we are going, not because of where we are; we can rejoice because of Jesus, not because ourselves. 

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Peter 1:8