I never knew my maternal grandfather, Ray. Ray passed before I was born, and my grandmother remarried to the only man I ever knew as Grandpa. About 15 years ago I stumbled on boxes of old photographs, on slides, from his travels. As a international marking manager, he was lucky enough to get to venture to all corners of the world, and while he didn't take many photos, he took a few from each place he traveled. I had come across the photos at a time when digital photography was just starting to take off; shooting film was still fairly typical, but it was done far less frequently. The desire and ability to have perfectly crisp photos has been facilitated by the digital format, so I was quite surprised with how drawn I was to the grain and lack of focus in these images. When I first saw the photos I remember being particularly fond of the random street photos, my favorite being the first one below. I hadn't thought of those photos in years until recently. While editing photos, I came across one that instantly reminded me of these old photos. Tonight, I finally dug them up. I'm still not exactly sure why that photo (the last one here) brought me back -- the brain is funny like that -- but I am so thankful that it did. Introducing, for the very first time to the internet, photos by Ray Kondrat.
