The Photographs of Larry Towell

I didn’t discover Larry Towell’s photographs until a couple of days ago. Towell is a member of Magnum Photos (it is their website from which I’m pasting the pictures in this blog entry), who has traveled the world photographing the dispossessed, refugees of various conflicts, and landless migrants.





But his photographs of his own family are what caught my attention. Here is a picture of his son eating a pear from his wife’s hands in the old family pickup. For me, the boy’s eyes make this picture. I’ve always enjoyed watching my children’s facial expressions as they eat. This picture might have been even better were we able to see more of his wife’s eyes, but I still love it.

Here we see another son, suffering from a fever in the front yard. I was immediately drawn to this picture because my own son is getting over a fever and cold right now. I was reading to him a few days ago and he literally fell asleep sitting up and started to tip over. And it was only mid-afternoon. That was a sure sign that he wasn’t feeling well, and I was up most of that night listening to him cough. I have no complaints, as he asked me to sleep in his bed with him because he wasn’t feeling well. I gladly did so. So I can empathize with the young boy depicted here. And I’m heartened by the family dog’s apparent concern, as well.

Here is a picture of Mr. Towell’s daughter playing baseball with her brothers. This picture also struck a chord with me, as Troy and I have been including Delaney in our sporting games lately. Delaney’s particularly proud of the fact that she’s learning to throw a baseball, and she loves to play “keep-away” with the boys. Mr. Towell has captured the moment well here.

Finally, we come to a graphic expression of sibling love. Here is Mr. Towell’s daughter carrying her young brother through a river to “introduce him to water.” While I don’t agree with these kids being in a river without lifejackets, I see this kind of sibling love every day between Troy and Delaney. These kids adore each other, and I get the feeling that Troy wouldn’t hesitate to carry his sister through water if he ever had to. Delaney has started to assert herself a little more lately when it comes to “alone” time with me, but I think that our kids will have a very happy relationship to each other for life.