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chagspop•

Is that a flashlight in picture #3? :D

Kidding, but it looked like for some seconds.

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thetookOP•

Just one of those cool old school microphones... probably from a boxing match he was hosting, I know from my dad's stories in 1964 he had 1964 Tokyo Olympics Light Welterweight Gold Medalist Jerzy Kulej come to our rinky dinky town for a exhibition match and talk.

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joneSee•

Cool portraits. [And since I read your comment including family photo biz... gee. Doesn't that just make good sense?]

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thetookOP•

Thanks.

My grandfather did lots of weddings, first communions, baptisms and such not so much a flair for the pretty nature stuff very utilitarian but pretty pictures.

It kind of rubbed off on me and my father too I never really liked pictures of flowers and mountains and etc. I've always shot portraits, architecture, man made stark objects.

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justpat•

Did all Polish men of that generation look like Vladek Sheybal?

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thetookOP•

My grandfather was born in the Loire, France in 1927 but his family was Polish and they moved back to their native Sandomierz, Poland in 1929. From 1941-1944 he ran a photography shop there (and did so even when I was young before my family left for NYC when I was 9 in '95). He also fought with the local partisans in the Swietokrzysie region of Poland. In 1962 he moved to Sierpc, Poland where we met my grandmother (they had three kids). He was a long time boxing teacher, photography teacher and very active in the local Armia Krajowa (AK = Polish Partisans) meet ups and memorials (I remember going with him to some farm outside of town to inspect this HUGE stone... it was probably as big as half a 18 wheeler they cut that down and turned it into a memorial, I was about 7)

My grandmother was from what I've heard "the most beautiful woman in town" the town only had like 10,000 people at the time sooo take that as you will, she came from some old landed gentry family that got their lands taken away during the early 1900's. She's till alive and well (quit smoking at 70 something cold turkey... both of them did). My grandfather sadly passed away about 2 years ago now.

EDIT: This is my grandfather's obituary in the local (Sierpc, Poland) newspaper http://www.sierpc.com.pl/news-news-1130/0/Andrzej-Olechowski-1927-2012 It's in Polish but if you got Chrome give it a read.

EDIT 2: The one picture of my grandmother sitting on the rocks is probably from the late 60's/ early 70's because I remember my father showing me a album of him at some lake and he was about 9 or 10 in that picture and this one was in there.

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