Birth Day Portrait

My mother used to get my picture taken on my birthday or when my birthday is approaching. Most of the time she takes me to a photo studio or get someone who has a camera to take my picture. If she can not make it she would ask my brother, my father or anyone available to take me there.  I remember ones my cousin who was living with us at that time had to take me with her for the annual ritual.  There are gaps and many lost pictures but the pictures that I still have are enough to show how much I have changed. From the baby pictures to the toddler picture, from the toddler pictures to pre-teen photos and it goes on. But the older I got the fewer birthday portraits I had.

Ones my mother is gone it didn't cross my mind to keep having birthday portraits.  Now after many years laps I have taken a self-portrait when my birthday approached this year. It was not even meant to be the birthday portrait but the time that I took the picture was much closer to my birthday so I choose to make it "The Birth Day Portrait". It is not the same as my toddler portraits. It is totally different but yet taken with the same notion that my mother had in mind when she dragged me to photo studios every year, that is to have a picture of  Deresse at a certain age.

Birthday celebrations were not that much significant as the Birthday portraits in my family. Even though my mother insisted on the picture parts throwing a birthday party was not her thing or my father's either. I don't remember birthday parties with candles to blow and cakes to cut. Usually, a traditional bread is baked for the occasion maybe soft drinks from the kiosk nearby, that was it.  I still keep the low key approach regarding birthdays. I had made important decisions on my birthday and work on important projects to coincide with my birthday but I don't remember ever having a birthday party. Yes, people had surprised me with a birthday cake and gifts but so far I was not tempted to have a birthday party for myself but I will try to keep taking my Birthday Portraits for now on.   

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