Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Grandpa Carter at UCLA

My Grandpa Carter (who died when my dad was a teenager and who I, obviously, never met) attended UCLA in the 1930's. We have some old pictures of him around campus, and I met with a person in UCLA's alumni department my first year to try and figure out where they were taken because we wanted to take pictures of me in the same spots. Of course, we never did it until today, after I graduated. So, without further ado, here they are . . .

I really liked taking this picture. It was pretty neat to realize I was sitting exactly where my grandpa had sat 70 years ago.

We even got people on both sides of him (although my intruders are dressed much more casually than his)! Interesting to note that UCLA got rid of the steps at the base of the pillar and changed the brick steps. I wonder why.


This was the hardest location to pinpoint. The building behind us has an addition (I think it's an elevator) that is obviously much newer than the rest of the building. I think that addition is blocking the arched double window in Carter's picture. The windows on the long side all look the same, though.
My favorite thing about this picture of Carter is that it, like the one with him on the library steps, came from some magazine called "Undergrad" (that seems to have just done stories on the goings-on at a bunch of different colleges around the country), and so includes captions. I love how the caption calls his girlfriend "comely", which I think the writer meant as a compliment but which is pretty much an insult today. I mean, nowadays, you kind of have to go with "smokin' hot". It's also funny that the mag calls her a "professor", which she most certainly isn't.

8 comments:

Phyllis said...

You finally got the pictures, and they are very good. Great job!

Glodowski said...

Wow its CRAZY how much you look like him in the first picture!

Driel said...

That is adorable! I love the pictures and seeing your grandpa. That is so neat that Carter has his name.

Breezy said...

dang i am such a good photographer....

KB said...

That is so cool! Fun idea and nice work :)

Shari said...

These are beautiful! Breezy did such a good job! Perfect! I am so glad it worked out this way because it really needed an artist's eye. Grandma Ginny has already been in tears.

April Celeste Garff said...

That's so great! It's funny to see just how much you look like your grandpa!

Kathy said...

Wow! Great photographer. Super cool photos. congrats you made it!