Memories of a Childhood

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Kolman Rosenberg

Memories of a childhood

Last Friday I went down into Cleveland’s flats.  This is an industrial area of steel mills, river shipping, railroads and old neighborhoods.  It’s absolutely one of my favorite areas in which to shoot photos.  As I was driving out, I turned into this one way street and saw the signs and started to back out when I saw this scene!  I had immediate flashbacks to my childhood, growing up in the inner city of Camden, NJ.  A wonderful city then, not so much now unfortunately.  The scene though, reminded me of those days of playing in the streets with little to worry about except an occasional car.  The 4 kids were so carefree!  4 you say?  Yes, the 4th is in the shade under the tree to the left.  He was sorting through some abandoned lumber, perhaps dreaming up the construction of a tree-house!  Oh, what great memories!

About Kolman Rosenberg

My interest in photography began as a college newspaper and yearbook photographer during the stormy 1960s and 1970s. I was influenced by many of the great photojournalists and documentary photographers such as W. Eugene Smith, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke-White and other black and white photographers of Life Magazine and the earlier Farm Security Administration. Though many of these photographers documented the horrors of war and the plight of poverty, they also showed me the dignity and adaptability of human beings in their desire to prevail.
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6 Responses to Memories of a Childhood

  1. 1222cc says:
    June 7, 2012 at 10:17 am

    Big smile. I recall playing Commandoes (I was the only girl on the street) on Cleveland streets as a child. Hardly ever saw a car. Some homes didn’t even have garages. We rode the streetcars.
    Carole Clement

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  2. Bob says:
    June 7, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    Yup. Those were the days when your parents told you to come home when the street lights went on. Good times.

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  3. Stuart Pearl says:
    June 8, 2012 at 6:35 am

    I like the way you shot this Kolman – that pool of light in the middle gives this a nice sense of depth. And yes, it does bring back some nice memories of playing during my own childhood.

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