This "family portrait" photo was taken by our family during the Spring Festival of 1965. I was 10 years old that year, and my youngest sister was just a few months old. She was white and fat. My father liked her very much, and would always say to everyone she met that she had "another wine jar." On the third day of the first lunar month , my father happily took us to the only "Sun Ji Photo Studio" in town to take this photo.
My family portrait
At that time, the cultural life of people in small towns was very poor. During the Spring Festival, in addition to paying New Year greetings, I also went shopping. Going to a photo studio to take photos was the custom and fashion of that era. Sun Kee Photo Studio is a chain store, and the lobby of the home is the business room. The surrounding walls are covered with large and small picture frames, and various photos taken by the photo studio are displayed in the picture frames. A small room extending from the main room to the south is the shooting room. There were no electric lights at that time, so the owner opened a large skylight above the shooting room to increase the light. There are many hand-painted three-dimensional scenery arranged on the wall, including villas, trees, flowers, etc., for those who take photos to choose from. An old wooden camera wrapped in black cloth stands in the center. There were a lot of people taking photos that day. The people taking photos were not only residents of the town, but also girls and boys from the countryside. The store was packed with people taking photos and watching the fun.
The father in the photo is wearing a military medal, sitting upright with his head held high, maintaining the unique demeanor of a soldier. The second sister was still sitting on his lap. The mother is holding her little sister, who is more than 5 months old. The little sister is wearing a purple woolen hat and a phoenix-patterned cloak. The eldest sister stood in the center wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket, with a handkerchief pinned to her chest for wiping her nose. On the far left is my younger brother. I remember that he refused to take pictures at that time. He was hiding here and there, and he looked unnatural even if he just stood there. The shop owner who took the picture stuck his head out from under the black cloth, frowned, and realized that he was thinking. He took out a toy submachine gun from the inner room and put it on his younger brother's shoulder. The younger brother was now happy. You can see that he has a pair of big eyes and is holding a submachine gun. His posture is really a bit majestic and high-spirited. The one standing on the right is me. I was in fifth grade at the time and was the study committee member of the squadron. When I heard about taking pictures, I quickly found a red scarf from my schoolbag and tied it on to show that I was a glorious young pioneer.
At that time, there were seven members of our family living on my father’s salary of 32 yuan. In order to support the family, my mother worked very hard, raising pigs, ducks, and growing vegetables. As we grew up day by day, the pressure of family life became increasingly heavier. My mother realized this and took advantage of my father's meeting at Xinghua the next year. I took the opportunity and took the initiative to go to the hospital in the city for a sterilization operation. The whole family has never taken a photo together since then. As of today, this is the only "family photo" of our family.
