School Portraits

By Ralphine Major

ralphine3@yahoo.com

They are often found in wallets and scrapbooks and serve as reminders of our school days. There was a time when cameras were rare and formal photos were seldom made, so school portraits taken at school were a big deal. Picture-taking day was usually scheduled in early fall soon after the start of the school year.

A photographer would come to the school, set up the huge camera and lights, and begin the task of making every student look their best with a single click of the camera. Class after class of students would line up for individual photos. For many students, the school portrait would be the only picture taken of them that year. In a few weeks, packages of photos arrived at the school and were distributed to students to be shared with family and friends. Students often swapped their wallet size photos or sometimes stamp size photos with their friends. Year after year, school photos were often framed or pasted in scrapbooks at home showing a student’s progress toward their all-important senior year picture. In the spring, the photos could often be seen in the school yearbook. Traditions change, and the methods of making school portraits may vary over the years; but school portraits are treasured mementos representing a particular year in a student’s life. School portraits—keepsakes of a moment in time for loved ones to cherish through the years.

Words of Faith: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 (KJV).