Over a century in the making, this project begins with a Ben and ends with a Ben.

Using a 4x5 Speed Graphic and a Rolleiflex TLR camera, my great-grandfather, Benjamin Wichansky, methodically documented our family from the mid 1910s to the late 1950s. Thousands of negatives tell the story of a middle class Jewish family living their years in Elizabeth, NJ. Vacations were enjoyed in Miami Beach, FL.

It was a simpler time, a lifetime before you could keep up with your loved ones on the internet – trips, dinners, parties, and picnics were when you got your social updates. This time capsule reveals an intimacy of family, in proximity and connection, lost to the digital world of today.

I was handed a box of photos when I was thirteen, and another at nineteen. More boxes have surfaced since.

In addition to Ben, his son – Howard – carried the torch of documentation into the late 90s.

Our late cousin, Sam Tarnow, shot an archive of Kodachromes in the 40s and 50s showing a full-color perspective of our family yet to be seen.

My mom’s dad, Bill (to me, Poppie), made color Polaroids throughout the 60s and 70s. His dad, Maurice, left behind an archive of hundreds of large format black-and-white negatives from the late 1800s to the 1940s depicting life in Hartford, CT.

My dad’s father, Murray (to me, Poppa), shot thousands of color slides from the early 1950s to the mid-80s in Union, NJ.

While not more than a small dent has been made in this endless history of pictures, each tells a story that deserves the attention, care and love my family took while making them. 

Thank you for spending the time to interact with this selection.

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