While recently adding branches deep into the night, it suddenly occurred to me that I’ve amassed and processed thousands of family pictures. The most iconic are in this website’s slideshow. By now, most of you are familiar with the amazing 1929 Reunion photograph by Michael J. Farabaugh (1878-1959). And the stiff, stern countenances of our “First Farabaughs” are obvious to anyone who visits here.

But they aren’t necessarily artistic. So for this month’s newsletter I thought I’d share some of the images that strike me as interesting. Clicking on the image will take you to the Farabaugh relative shown, and most are portraits. I am only going to comment on the first one, my favorite picture of my Mom taken in the late ’40s. I think it’s an accidentally great work of art. She has her eyes closed with her face turned toward the sun. But she is off to the side and instead in the center is the open garage at Main St., Carrolltown, home of my grandparents Bede and Naomi (Farabaugh) Bender. I find the geometric shapes and shadows fascinating, with a hint of the backyard shown through the garage’s rear window. Bede had many talents, but nothing about him suggests that he had the artistic vision to compose this. When I described the box camera used to a professional photographer, with its viewfinder at the top as it was held at chest level, he was quite knowledgeable about its use. He explained it had a sensitive trigger that caused many unintended shots to be taken. I can well imagine my grandfather frowning at this and having my mom perfectly centered for the ordinary picture that must have followed. Enjoy this stroll through the Farabaugh Art Museum! Three of the pictures have fish, for some reason.