A Little Photo Story with a Sad Ending

Sunday 7 July 2019, 13:31 by Elvira Smit | 8,030 views | 5 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Mr and Ms Sweetman are proud of their garden. Very proud. In 1963, they decided to have themselves photographed every month by Ken Griffiths, among the crops. When I first looked at the series, I was overcome by a melancholy feeling because... Well, just have a look for yourself first:

Everything passes

Mr and Ms Sweetman are slightly leaning towards each other in all the photos. It is something you often see in people who have been married for decades, they literally grow towards each other. In one photo, it is raining cats and dogs and Mr Sweetman holds the umbrella completely over his wife's head, while he gets soaked.

Ken Griffiths's series is a story about time, about how everything is always changing. Not just the seasons, but a human life too. In the final photo, Mr Sweetman is standing all alone on the path. On the left as well, in his wife's place. He is looking away and has a shy posture. And that image made me melancholy.

But... nothing is what it seems

For this article, I looked up some more information about this series. I always do that, to avoid basing my article on a single source. After all, one source is no source.

In an article in The Guardian, Griffiths's work is discussed at length. And suddenly, it turns out that the ending of the series above has a completely different cause:

Other publications worldwide picked up but misunderstood the series, because Mrs Sweetman was not in the final picture.

“Story of Love in Annual Photographs with Sorrowful Ending,” says one website headline, implying that she had died.

In fact, it was too cold for her to go outside, and she can be seen at the kitchen window.

Ms Sweetman had not died at all, she simply thought it was far too cold and stayed behind the kitchen window. And that is why Mr Sweetman suddenly stands on the left, leaving room for his wife behind the kitchen window.

So look carefully first, before you draw any conclusions 🙂

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