I've been going through photos of my mother, looking back on her life and trying to put it into context. Very few people age gracefully enough to be photographed through their aging.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I have just one black and white photograph left of my mother when she was younger. She was 17 when it was taken and beautiful with wispy curls and eyes that shone like dark marbles.
Why in the world would anyone want to photograph an old woman like me?
There's no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It's beautiful, I call that beauty.
My mother's career was over at 40 but she was still trying to be everyone's buddy, always smiling for the cameras.
There's a terrible truth for many women in the picture business: Aging typically takes its toll and means fewer and less desirable roles.
I look at old photos of me, and I don't feel connected to them at all. I would never wish my upbringing on anyone... but I wouldn't take it back for the world.
Aging on camera is just very hard. I love my age. I feel good about myself but high definition television is not kind. You don't even look like yourself in high-def. It just makes every little line on your face more exaggerated so it ends up aging you. It's like you're watching yourself seven years older.
I was born looking older - and I've been aging since I was a teenager.
Just because someone looks old doesn't mean he or she is. The skin of some people who spend a lot of time outdoors seems to age very rapidly. Someone can look 80 or 90 and only be 40 to 50.
My mother's favorite photograph was one of herself at twenty-four years old, unbearably beautiful, utterly glamorous, in a black-straw cartwheel hat, dark-red lipstick, and a smart black suit, her notepad on a cocktail table. I know nothing about that woman.