RECLAIMING A PHOTOGRAPH

Here is a photograph of my grandmother's family. I found it in my mother’s possessions after she died. Like all old photographs it represents a chronicle of a family; being just the ‘leftovers’ of those who have since departed. At the time of it being taken, 1935, it was obviously meant to be a visual recording of an event with those present obediently looking at the camera to present themselves. As Susan Sontag says, it “bears witness” to their connectedness.  The photo shows my Nana Sleeman with her sisters-in-law, my great-grandmother and her sister. They are obviously on a day out at the seaside, sitting on deckchairs on sand in front of the big wall. Although names are mentioned on the back of the photo, the location is not. The family lived in Dowlais so what trip did they make to get to where this photograph was taken?

It seemed that the most likely places were at Barry Island or along Swansea beachfront, as it is in these locations that there are old Victorian beach walls and both were reachable from Merthyr by train.  The first place I go is Barry Island, but immediately I can see that the stone wall is more uniform in construction than the jigsawed backdrop in the photograph.

So to Swansea beach to find this spot. As soon as I start walking I realise that such is the unique nature of every foot of the wall’s construction that what I need to do is to find the long stone that is above the heads of the people in the middle of the photograph. It’s a stone on the third course down from the top of the wall.

I walk a long way constantly looking at the wall and not seeing anything like the placement of stones in the photo. I begin to think that I am on a fool's errand. Then, near what is known as the Slip Bridge pillars, I find that configuration of stones. The very spot. 

The actual position was behind a high bar of sand, now 3 feet lower than the level of where my female relatives were sitting. It is not a spot that we would sit at. There was some detritus from a high tide, broken and complete shells, dry bits of seaweed, small bits of wood, some bits of plastic bags and a very distressed empty bottle of Ribena.

I took my photographs of the wall to confirm its stone built configurations in my own records. Now I can say I have stood on this spot. Perhaps I would return at some time to have my photograph taken and then I would have a continuing record of my family at the same spot. Perhaps a future generation will return to this spot just too also record a connectedness.

Later wandering through the internet, I find some old images of the same spot.