Memory Project: My Photograph

In this framed photograph of me, I look to be about two years old. There were similarly sized pictures of Alan and Jean, and the three of us were hung in the lounge, first at 931 Grey Street in Gwelo, and then at 93 Berg Road., Fish Hoek.

As a boy Alan hated beetroot. One day my father noticed that I was looking a little flushed, even though I had been shot in black and white. Puzzled, he rose from the table for a closer inspection. When he lifted the frame away from the wall two slices of pickled beetroot fell to the floor. The pink stain faded over the years and now there is virtually no trace of my brother’s misdemeanour.

My mother said I was crying in front of the camera, which would explain the way my eyes are shining. I have never liked the look of that snivelling child.