The Box Family

The Box Family is so called because it arrived in a box.

Bought on eBay for a little under £25, this vast collection of photographs represents a fascinating chunk of one family's personal history. The earliest (dated) photograph in the collection is from 1910, the most recent probably from the 60s.

A once-private collection has now gone into the public domain - its fate tossed into the maelstrom of the world wide web. It is now in the hands of someone (probably) completely unknown to the original owners.

What would the members of the Box Family think if they knew that their most personal images were floating around in cyberpsace and are now living in my study?

There is no provenance for the collection. No surnames, no addresses, just tantalising clues. In the absence of fact, one has to make inferences and connections which may, or many not, be correct.

Thus, a new narrative is formed; a new way of telling the story of the Box Family (which is not, of course, the real name - so starting the narrative.)

This diagram is impossibly small on screen and is therefore illegible but it gives an impression of the kinds of connections and inferences which it is possible to make about the Box Family.

It is possible to see it properly by clicking here to load a pdf.

Click here to load the document in Freemind (software required)

Click here to get a free copy of FreeMind

By careful examination of the photographs in the collection, certain things become apparent. Some are clearly factual "father standing by his new motor car" but others are pure inference. (Doris is photographed with a groups of girls holding tennis racquets, therefore Doris enjoys sport, for example.)

It is also possible to create fantasy theories about leisure pursuits: for example this photograph is called "In the piazza, San Marco".

Later, we see the same people in Rome - did they do the Grand Tour? Who was Miss Tullis? a family friend, mother's companion or a servant? the nanny maybe?

In Orvell's words¹, these photographs of the wealthy on holiday "emblamatise the conspicuous consumption of leisure".

There is a now whole new history for the Box Family. Its members were well off, privately educated, religiously minded, well-travelled, liked sport and had a penchant for pet dogs. All, possibly, complete nonsense. Without additional documentary evidence in the form of text or verbal affirmation, none of this can be verified or discounted.

So, is my Box Family any less real than the original one?

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References

¹Orvell, M. American Photography (Oxford History of Art) OUP 2003. p144.

URLs

All sites accessed and working 16/03/06

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