My great-grandfather, George, was an avid photographer, and I inherited his Nikkormat FTn and lenses. I’m currently learning how to master this wonderful mechanical camera just like how he wielded it decades ago.

George lived into his mid-90s, and I remember visiting his house in Port Angeles. During his last years he seemed determined to help us document and remember what life was like when he was growing up. I never really understood that drive until we discovered all of his carefully organised and filed slides amongst his possessions. They’ve been sitting in our basement, waiting until someone had the time and drive to begin documenting and scanning these slides. He took his pictures with positive film, and they’re preserved in the form of Kodachrome slides. Even today they show off their spender.

All of the pictures are located on my flickr, but I’d like to point out a few specific ones that I particularly enjoy. This will be a regular series, and I hope you share in the sense of discovery that I’m experiencing as I slowly peal away decades of photographic history.

George lived most of his life in Port Angeles, and many of the pictures share the traits of that area: the beaches of Puget Sound, the beauty of the Olympic Mountains, and the lush forests of the Olympic Peninsula.

George loved shooting flowers. He had a bellows lens, many remote shutter mechanisms, and precise mounting brackets.

Along with flowers, he also had an eye for mushrooms.

They went on hikes often.

And occasionally spotted a mountain goat.

Snow nor elevation stopped them.

Beaches are also a common theme: he seems to be much like me in that we ventured out when the weather was less than perfect.

George also fished the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. This was taken in the mid 1960s.

People don’t show up too often, but when they do the results are beautiful. This is my grandmother and one of her daughters: most likely my mother.

Preparing for a nuclear family picnic.

Ferries looked quite a bit different back then!

On the deck of a ferry. He liked taking pictures of seagulls.

This looks like Northern California, but I can’t quite place it.

This appears to be three-lane bridge, but nobody seems to be using the middle lane, nor are any of them marked with yellow lines.

Growing up on a protected bay of Puget Sound, my sister and I frequently were fascinated by the sea creatures we found while swimming. Immediately behind me you’ll see a large number of blue starfish, but I was attracted to this bright orange one for some reason.

This is my mom. She often led these beach expeditions and taught us to respect nature.

It’s “Uh-Oh” Dave, my uncle! Nina and I usually pestered him until he picked us up and threw us outside. In a manner of speaking. Just what is on my feet?

Sometimes we went on picnics.

I was that emo kid who always sat alone.

Nina is my younger sibling, and appears to have lost her front teeth in this adorable picture.

Others collected Beanie Babies. I was a hipster and collected Puffkins. They often hung out together on this chair, which was shortly thereafter destroyed by the interior decorator police despite my protestations that it made an excellent home base for Puffkins.

Sometimes they hung out on my bed. I have about 30 now, and they’re hiding in a storage chest at home.

Approximately once a year, I had a birthday.

Nina and I would bake a lot of things with mom. But we often got distracted and let mom do all of the frosting. Or we were too stuffed with cupcake batter. Delicious cupcake batter.

My grandfather, Ray, lived next door (and still does!). He got my foreign coin collection started and introduced the topics of engineering and electricity to me.

Sometimes my aunt Carol and grandma would visit.

And probably would comment on my perpetually messy desk.