My father’s side of the family is from Opelika, Alabama; a place that not many people are usually familiar with. It’s just outside of Auburn, Alabama if that helps.
And if you have not heard of Auburn, Opelika is about 100 miles south of Atlanta.
These images are from a family gathering before the 100th birthday celebration of my late, great-grandmother, Minnie Swanson, affectionately known as “Ma-ma.” No pun intended, she really was a great, great-grandmother. She was a great-grandmother that could and would grow anything and everything and cook it masterfully. She made the best blueberry muffins in the world. She was loving and selfless, and would hold and cuddle me like a baby in her lap even when I was 8 years old and I was almost as tall as her. She was easily one of the sweetest women I’ll ever know.
I always remember sitting next to her shelling peas while sitting on a metal rocking chair on her front porch. It was always in the middle of summer, and the Alabama sun would be beaming down from above.
*insert sizzle sound effect.
On the day of these images we gathered at my grandmother's house on Ballard Ave. We spent many good times in this home and this day was no exception. Daughters and sons, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, cousins and grandparents reuniting. Family.
This set was before my DSLR days. I wasn't even "into photography" at this time. It wasn't "my thing" yet. So I enjoy this set because it was one of those moments that I realize photography was a natural passion rising from below my surface. No one told me to take photos of everyone on this day; I just wanted to. But why? Only God knows...
All images are proudly from a Nikon Coolpix S50.
