Sepia Names
Their faces are waiting to tell us more than their story--they're waiting to tell us who they are.
Sepia names hold secrets, intentional or not.
We stumble over genealogical records and family stories. We stare at photographs with fading names scrawled on the back, wondering what was really happening in our ancestor’s life, how they were really feeling, what they were really like. We think when our ancestors are gone, they’re gone, and at best the big facts of their story are all that could remain: birth, location, occupation, marriage, children, and death. We have no idea that we can know so much more:
𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘧, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺….
All it takes is one photograph for a glimpse into their world—a world that likely didn’t make it into the family tales or genealogy records … and a world that transforms them from a name on a page to a vibrant person.
Just like you and me.
