These amazing photos from Joey Harrison that were taken mostly by his mother. They show a part of his mom’s world from 1947 to January 1954, before he was born.
“My Parents: Jerry and Skip Harrison who married in 1947. Before I came along, and with diminishing returns thereafter, my mom pursued photography passionately and studiously. She created a large body of work centered around her life with my father and her birth family.”
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| Portraits of my mom Skip Harrison in the early 1950s |
“My mom was an accomplished amateur photographer, and she took many shots with her Ansco twin-lens reflex mounted on a tripod with a mechanical time release screwed into the shutter button. She also had a large flood light (which I still have and use for work projects). Many of my mom’s shots were taken with a tripod and self-timer. She’d compose the photo, set the exposure, start the self-timer, and race into position. Sometimes she set the exposure, adjusted the light, and composed the shot. Then my dad would simply press the shutter.”
“My mom has been also a utilitarian seamstress all her life. Using her beloved 1950 Singer, she made clothing for my sisters (lots of matching outfits), slipcovers, custom-sized sheets, and curtains. Lots of curtains.”
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| Mom and Dad at wedding altar, 1947 |
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| Bride in a blur, West Virginia, 1947 |
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| Mom and dad on their honeymoon vacation to Pittsburgh, 1947 |
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| ‘Our wedding night’, 1947 |
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| Steubenville’s Kit Kat Klub, Ohio, 1947 |
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| The honeymooners, ‘taken in a photobooth in Steubenville, Ohio, during our honeymoon trip’, 1947 |
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| Mom and dad dancing in their living room, January 1949 |
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| Jerry, Skip, Anne, Jim, little Jerry, December 1949 |
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| Mom at Hickory Hill farm, 1949 |
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| Mom at Silver Beach, 1949 |
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| Mom at the enlarger, 1949 |
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| Mom in 1949, near Ada, a small town east of Grand Rapids, Michigan |
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| Mom in Chicago, 1949 |
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| Mom in darkroom, 1949 |
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| Mom sealing peaches for quick freezing, 1949 |
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| Physician’s assistant, 1949 |
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| Reading the funnies, 1949 |
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| Summertime at Hickory Hill Farm, 1949 |
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| ‘A drink to us’, 1950 |
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| Dad doing miracles, 1950 |
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| Finishing touches, 1950 |
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| Portrait of mom from above at Dale Rooks’ studio, 1950 |
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| Mom and dad at the Southern (in Grand Rapids, Michigan), June 1950 |
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| Mom and dad at the Southern’s nightclub (they went nightclubbing nearly every Saturday night at that time), August 1950 |
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| Mom and dad in Cimarelli’s bar, Detroit, 1950 |
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| Mom at the Grand Rapids Furniture Museum, February 1950 |
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| Mom at the Grand Rapids Furniture Museum, February 1950 |
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| Mom in 1950 |
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| Mom in Hickory Hill pine grove, 1950 |
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| Mom’s self-portrait, 1950 |
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| My mom, June 1950 |
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| Sink right here, 1950 |
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| Take a seat, anywhere, 1950 |
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| Test shot at Dale Rooks’ studio, 1950 |
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| Test shot at Dale Rooks’ studio, 1950 |
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| Thanksgiving breakfast, November 20, 1950 |
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| The entry cleaned up well, 1950 |
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| A day at the beach, 1951 |
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| Mom and a neighborhood boy Billy Vander Maas have lunch on the job, 1951 |
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| Mom and dad at the Supreme Court building, Washington D.C., October 1951 |
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| Mom and dad go to Washington D.C., October 1951 |
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| Mom and dad watching television, 1951 |
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| Mom at Coady Lake, Michigan, 1951 |
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| Mom at the Hotel Washington, 1951 |
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| Mom making hamburgers, 1951 |
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| Mom took this self-portrait at the Hotel Washington, 1951 |
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| Mom’s self-portrait, 1951 |
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| Mom’s self-portrait, 1951 |
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| A home for Christmas, 1952 |
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| Cleanup was my mom’s specialty, 1952 |
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| Committing sins, 1952 |
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| Contest entrants, 1952 |
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| Durable dress, 1952 |
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| Mom and dad wrapping presents for Christmas, December 1952 |
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| Mom and dad wrapping presents for Christmas, December 1952 |
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| Mom and dad, 1952 |
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| Mom waiting for dad to bring the car around on this snowy winter night, 1952 |
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| Mom watches as a boat approaches, 1952 |
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| Mom’s self-portrait, 1952 |
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| Mom’s self-portrait, 1952 |
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| Mom’s self-portrait, 1952 |
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| Sewing curtains, 1952 |
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| Take a letter, 1952 |
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| Thanksgiving Eve, November 1952 |
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| The geometric sofa-bed, June 1952 |
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| The slipcover, 1952 |
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| Toast was popping but coffee came first, Jan. 1, 1952 |
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| While the boss is away (mom as assistant to Dr. Pott, the neighborhood general practitioner and surgeon, stretched from 1948 to late 1954), July 1952 |
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| Joey was anticipated in late January 1954, 1953 |
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| Mom and dad doing taxes, 1953 |
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| Mom and dad on Chicago vacation, 1953 |
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| 53 Mom at home, 1953 |
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| Mom in 1953 |
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| Mom in 1953 |
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| Mom washing the Nash, 1953 |
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| Mom, studio portrait, 1953 |
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| Now let’s talk this over, 1953 |
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| The owners of The Southern, Esther and Herb Kaiser, were the night managers, 1953 |
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| Joey’s blizzard, January 1954 |
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| Mom and me, 1956 |