Last Sunday would have been my Grandmother’s 79th Birthday. We lost her in November. My Grandfather, Norman, Gilda’s husband of 58 years, along with the help of his family, held a celebration in her honor. I decided to document the day in the form of a series. I set up a black backdrop on the side of my parent’s house, and shot individual portraits of every guest at Gilda’s party. For each portrait, I shot a few images on my iPhone through the Hipstamatic app as well as with a Nikon D700. All the Nikon images are available on my website www.dnorphoto.com
This series is my attempt at giving some sort of tribute to a woman, who was like no other. A larger than life personality, who was never afraid to speak her mind or show her love.
A wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, and a friend to many, these portraits are only some of the many people, Gilda had left an imprint on.
There is an enormous void in our family, one that can never be filled. But her strong spirit is in all the descendants of her family, and can be seen in the faces of these portraits.
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Beautiful job David, Grandma would be very proud of you
thank you so much
So serious!
thanks dude
Hi David,
we discussed the series already on IG a bit. I’d like to add that the DSLR shots are just awesome. They add so many more layers to the person and for a portrait per se they win hands down against the Hipsta shots. The latter ones, though, still have this unique, very dense quality, like the boiled down essence of the person. It’s like as if the Hipsta shot is the summary and the DSLR shot is the detailed description of a character.
Wonderful work and a great study on the differences between “classic” digital photography and mobile photography as interpreted by Hipstamatic.
thank you sir, i appreciate your thoughtful comments. i like each version for its own reason as well.
And may I add, this blog post is a very moving tribute to your grandmother.
Grandma would say, I always loved you and thanks for enshrining our family forever in these portraits.
thank you, I’m happy to hear that.
My heart goes out to you and your family, David. I know how difficult this time is.
Your tribute is so touching and beautiful; there’s something very cathartic about preserving this moment in time. I hope it brings you all some comfort in this difficult time. She was surrounded by a beautiful group of people, so she must have been an amazing lady. I’m sure she’s super proud of you.
thank you Rachel, I hope to meet you some how one day through this wonderful world of JUXT, you always leave the most genuine comments, especially here. thank you for the kind words, its nice to hear folks outside of the family above, feel the way you do about this series. One Love!
Hey this is so good David. Gilda must be very very Happy!!!!
thank you my friend!
you already know i love this bro…but let me go ahead and tell you that this series of photos for your grandmother is heartwarming and is an amazing tribute to a beautiful matriarch! big ups brotha…cant wait to see more of your work!!!
thanks my friend!
Ale™ and all The Minimals™ family are with YOUR beautiful and strong family right now, David.
thanks Ale! and minimal dudes
These are awesome dude, very well done! Respect.
thanks mike, I appreciate it!
What a wonderful idea! I’ve always believed so strongly in the idea that no one truly leaves life because everyone they’ve ever met absorbs them on some level–and of course, those that share a blood line, even more so. These images fit so beautifully into that idea. You’ve captured your grandmother well here. 🙂 Thanks for sharing her with us.
thanks zoo much Jen. i agree with you 100 percent. I’m glad you see it that way