Margaret Patterson
Born: August 28 1883
A vibrant, bright-eyed lady who could read and speak different languages (note her foreign-language magazine). She was excited to pose for her portrait and to talk with me about her many interests. She had remained busy all her life, she said, and had tried to make the most of all situations even when they were not ideal.
Along with her interest in talking about her life, my old-style camera fascinated her; each time I went under the black cloth her expression lit up even more (like other older people, she was a natural subject). I explained to her that these large-format cameras disappeared from public view when more compact cameras came in in the 1940’s, but that they never became redundant and were still being used in specialist work when the highest quality images were required. She seemed fascinated to learn this, such was her broad range of interests. For Margaret, my camera was just one more topic in a constantly conversational engagement. Meeting her was uplifting.