Living Room

Hands

Aren’t hands fascinating? You can tell a lot about a person’s journey in life by looking at their hands. And isn’t it interesting that we all have such unique hands? I can recall the look of my grandparents’ and parents’ hands almost as well as their faces. I was so struck with this simple black…

Aren’t hands fascinating? You can tell a lot about a person’s journey in life by looking at their hands. And isn’t it interesting that we all have such unique hands? I can recall the look of my grandparents’ and parents’ hands almost as well as their faces.

I was so struck with this simple black and white photograph of a hand (a self portrait by John Coplans). I would love to try something similar. Wouldn’t this be an especially cool art series? Maybe photograph your child’s hand every year on their birthday or something? I’m trying to figure out a good way to photograph Evie’s hand before she loses all that gorgeous baby chub. What’s better than wrist and knuckle fat rolls?

(Images via this great post at Habitually Chic on Fredrick Malle’s apartments. I am CRAZY over his style.)

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20 thoughts on “Hands

  1. My mum has framed photos of myself and my siblings hands and feet from when we were little (aged about 6, 3 and 2 I think). There is a photo with all our feet together (seen from the sole of the foot) and then photos of each pair individually. They are in black and white as well, and look gorgeous. Especially the chubby little baby feet.

  2. I love the quote he give in the last photo, too. I have a picture of my 90 year old grandfather holding my newborn in his huge hands– I blew it up to 11×14, but after seeing this I think maybe I should go with a much, much larger print.

  3. that photo of the hand is so striking..hands are one thing i always notice about people, apart from the eyes..they say a lot about them..thanks for sharing..have lovely day..do visit my blog when you have a moment..xx meenal

  4. I am pregnant right now and have a little list of photo ideas to document the little ones growth over the years. close up hands and feet are definitely on the list…i love the adult hand too! so many things you can do yourself that look like expensive artwork!! thanks

  5. This hand is doing the sign language for the letter "N". You could have your kids' hands doing the sign language for the first letter of their name.

  6. I love this post! Hands are my favorite feature on a person. They say so much.

    Thank you!

  7. It's so funny what you said about your parents and grandparents hands because I feel just the same. And I remember my dad saying we have identique hands, the same lines, everything. I just loved this post. Thank you for sharing it with us.

    Ana, from Portugal.

  8. I really like this picture because of the position the hand is in. Years ago my sister pointed out to me that when my hands are resting they are usually in that position. I never noticed it about myself, but since she said that I catch myself doing it all the time.

  9. I think it's a great idea to document our family members' hands. When my 30-year-old brother died suddenly before Christmas, our family took pictures of our hands holding and surrounding his. He was an auto mechanic, so his hands were strong and scarred. I haven't had the strength to have the photos printed yet, but someday they'll be put in a special spot in my home.

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