My Grandmother's House

My grandmother (avó) quietly passed away around two years ago after a series of strokes left her bedridden for many years. My avó. was the most extraordinary woman I've ever known. She raised six children; my mother was the oldest. My grandfather died while he was very young and my avó never remarried raising her children as a single parent. Although illiterate, my avó had a tremendous intelligence and a great sense of dignity and respect. Her life work was to instill this in her six children and her nine grandchildren.

This house has been in our family for many years. Although it may have gone through quite a number of renovations, the house is speculated to be around 300 years old. It has been abandoned for the many years since my grandmother fell bedridden. It will likely be sold and teared down. The day that I visited to photograph the house will likely be the last time I lay my eyes on it. I have very fond memories of this place and my avó as does everybody in my family.

I used my Pentax MX with an SMC-PM 50mm f/1,7. I wished that I had used a medium-format camera for this.

That's my uncle in the last shot.

What a great series. I think I may have commented on these before, maybe on RFF?

You've given us a great glimpse into her life, what was important to her (family, religion). The house is such an interesting mix of old world and new world and I think you've captured that beautifully.

Amazing! I really hope I get to travel someday! Theres just so much to see.

Awesome!
I'm with Ken, what a Great series.
Nice photos Nando.

Thanks everyone. I would like to go back this summer with medium format gear to shoot the house over again. However, the house may be there by that time.

I would love to see that. What film would you use?

I used Kodak Portra 160NC the first time around. I really like the Portra films. Kodak has just updated them again. I am unsure what I would use. I'd probably choose a colour negative film again as it is more forgiving than slide film. I was dealing with exposure times of 15-30 seconds.

Stories always add so much to a photo. This series was wonderful, thank you for sharing!

beautiful!! Thanks for sharing them with us