The Hat Box

The day my Mom passed away she brought over a hat box to give me. She told me the history of how the hat box belonged to my Great-Grandmother, Menga. She described the story of how the hat box made the journey from Switzerland to New York when Menga moved from Switzerland to the United States. The hat box is filled with hats that my Grandmother wore and back in the day the hats were expensive, well to do, hats. She took the boat to the United States and on that journey she brought her son (my grandfather) and her husband (my great grandfather). Her husband, my great grandfather, came down with typhoid fever on the boat and died before they ever made it to the United States. Menga and her son both survived and went onto live long happy lives in the U.S. The hat box has a great family history and my Mom thought to bring it over so I could use the hat box for my photography business. Who would have guessed that minutes after we were admiring the hat box and it's contents that my Mom would be making her journey to heaven to see our family that owned that hat box?

The hat box has been in my dining room because I had left it in the same spot we had been looking at it and the hats. I finally mustered the courage to use the hat box in the way my Mom wanted me to use it. Sarah was my model and although she wasn't fully participating in the way I would have imagined her to particate I did get some shots of her with the hat box. My Mom loved antiques and old things so I processed the images the way that she would have enjoyed them. This picture is a tribute to my Mom and my Great Grandmother. May they rest in peace!

You can view more of the pictures on my Facebook.