Memorial Wreath

This photo depicts a memorial wreath for my great-grandmother, Lillian Isabelle Simons who died aged 54 on 11th August, 1929. This picture must have been scanned from an album belonging to my great-aunt, Laura Bean who was an avid photographer and chronicler for the Simons family. Aunt Laura had hundreds of pictures, but very few of her mother who died so relatively young, leaving her husband Joseph and ten children: Leonard, McNeil, Earlington, Laura, Herbert, Clarence, Amice, Stanley, John and Lillian. The image of Lillian’s face appears to have been super-imposed in the centre of the wreath between white roses, palm fronds and ferns. Searching through old family photos I found a copy of a family portrait of Lillian and Joseph with eight of their children posing in front of an oleander hedge. There is no date on the picture but her children look like they range in age from 2 -16 years.
The photo of the memorial wreath looks like it may have been taken in a professional studio, or perhaps was prepared by funeral directors to provide a keepsake for the family. It’s not clear if the image of Lillian was crafted for the keepsake, or if it was added later. It makes me reflect on how important a photo is for marking moments in time, and how it may determine how generations to come will view us.