A student in Colorado, looking for some sort of synthesis--the big picture, encompassing all the strangeness in the universe--but willing to settle for the philosophic or poetic lens.
While the world changes around us, does regular, ordinary life change as well? The Lillybridge Collection shows simple, ordinary life, 100 years ago. From that simplicity, personality emerges. Charles S. Lillybridge didn't bother to seek the rich and the famous. Rather, he preferred his neighbors, ordinary people, living in a shanty town off of the South Platte River. By 1910, Denver was a growing city, constructing five story buildings. Instead of seeking these marvels of the day--many now long gone--Lillybridge sought out the young and the old, the working stiffs, the grandmothers, and the babies. Alone or in groups, rich or poor, anyone strolling the canal paths along could become a subject.
He photographed Boy Scouts:
...and baseball teams.
Who couldn't resist taking a picture of a baby and little girls in dresses? (Even if it has a danger sign, and that Twilight zone feel to it...)
Other babies were pictured with their parents...
...or even puppies:
I wonder if the boy pictured below, on the right, just climbed out of the canal... he looks like he's freezing. In any case, Lillybridge seemed to have a way with kids:
I can't say the same for some of the older women:
...so here's a few more kids and dogs...
...and two expressive young men:
Maybe it wasn't Lillybridge who made the young ones smirk and the old ladies sneer. Even at the turn of the last century, genetics had a hand in the mix. Here, half the people in this early "Thor" motorbike with sidecar have the exact same grimace:
Image notes: The previous images have all been cropped to fit, but have not been reduced from the sizes posted in the online collection. To save time, these are not linked, but can be easily found by searching the collection. All images here via the Western History Photos collection at the Denver Public Library.
