Recently, I was looking through my mother’s old photographs from when she was a teenager, and I was struck by how much her teenhood resembled mine. It made me really emotional to think about our parallel lives, filled with the same experiences but 40 years apart, and how I have unconsciously made my memories look just like hers. To confirm this feeling, I found a bunch of my old photos and compared them with my mum’s. Eerie, isn’t it? —Eleanor
Melanie (my mum): The school took us skiing in Switzerland when I was 13. I hate the cold and sports, so skiing wasn’t the best idea for me, but I went for the heck of it—and for the chance to meet boys! Alas, we were chaperoned by an ancient nun, who taught us German and kept watch over our moral wellbeing, thus spoiling any chances for teenage fun. I only went skiing one time after this, and I hated it even more.Eleanor:I didn’t ski for the first time until I was 18, when my first boyfriend’s family took me to Switzerland over the holidays. I was really bad at it and spent most of my time shuffling up and down the baby slopes while my boyfriend and his family raced down sharp mountain edges without me. I preferred the part that came after: drinking hot chocolate and doing jigsaw puzzles in the lodge.
Melanie: Splashing in the cold English sea, running down a hill laughing and screaming, sunny days in our unkept back garden – these are things I remember from the early ’70s. None of us had much money, but neither did we have many worries. We took each day as it came with excitement and joy.
Eleanor: Swimming in the ponds at Hampstead Heath, day trips to Beachy Head and Southend-on-Sea, and sunbathing by the Thames with friends: You hardly notice these in-between moments as they happen, but they’re the ones you remember the most, I think.
Melanie: When I first laid eyes on Henri he was 15, and I thought he was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. We met when I spent the summer staying in his little house in the French mountains—he was the brother of an exchange student my parents had hosted back in England. We spent every day walking through the mountains and going to the pool. He had a tiny record player and only a handful of records, so we listened to the Beatles’ White Album over and over and over again. He loved Jimi Hendrix, too, and played drums in a band. Henri was my first love, but unfortunately I loved him more than he loved me.
Eleanor: I met a French boy at a friend’s party, and we stood in a corner for about seven hours, just talking and talking and talking about music. He became the second person I ever fell in love with. He was so curious about the world, it was impossible to make plans with him because he would get snagged by the world’s distracting beauty before he had even made it out the door. Sadly, I couldn’t live up to his selflessness and his openness; I became a selfish person around him because I felt like I couldn’t possibly give him as much as he’d given me. While I am always looking for ways to fill the painful stretch of time that is life, he couldn’t find enough time to take in the world.
Melanie: Ken was the lead vocalist and writer in a band called Biting Tongues. Before I’d even met him, I knew that he collected dried leaves under his bed (I think he used them for sound effects). He spent so much time writing, he would forget to eat all day. He was very charismatic. He drew me into the bubble of his world for seven years.
Eleanor: When I met Robbie, my head tore in two and I stayed up late making him mixtapes. He wouldn’t return my feelings for another two years.
Melanie: My last summer as a teenager was defined by long days spent on Hampstead Heath. Gerry was a keen photographer, which was reason enough to go out and explore. He had a little blue car, and we’d go on drives through the countryside and take pictures. He’s still like a brother to me.
Eleanor: These days, Robbie and I like to dress up in matching outfits, go on road trips to the beach, or take silly snaps on days where we don’t do much, but they still feel special.
Melanie: When I was 20, I went to Paris for a year. I could only afford to rent a bedsit in the 19th arrondissement that had a battleaxe of a concierge. She would sit in her little office all day, scowling. For the first month, I lived off of French bread, Camembert, and cheap red wine in plastic bottles. Despite all that, I loved Paris.
Eleanor: We went to Paris earlier this year on a whim. We spent most of our time there in our own little world, eating food and skipping over the barriers for the Metro. I find Paris romantic not in the glamorous Midnight in Paris way, but almost as a resistance against that: The city is so impossibly expensive and busy that you have to constantly fight poverty and loneliness. That struggle is where the actual romance lies, I think. ♦
31 Comments
This is too sweet, thank you for sharing.
I hope one day I can experience the love you describe and have such amazing adventures.
What a beautiful album. All the things you both did in just 20 years…makes my 22 feel like a complete waste -_-
Don’t feel like that! The moments described here are mostly fleeting, special ones (I get the impression), so they can apply to everyone. I’m sure you have some fleeting, gorgeous moments that if you photographed beautifully and wrote about would look just as special. It’s kind of like selective memory I think.
Lovely photos by the way!!
I love this. it just makes me feel good about life.
This is beautiful <3
Really incredible photos and concept. Great job!
This is incredible and lovely. I can’t believe how similar your experiences are.
These are so gorgeous and romantic.
these are so beautiful! truly puts the beauty and romanticism of simplistic life into perspective
This is simply sweet and wonderful. The awareness and appreciation on the relationship you have with your mom is fantastic.
Such cool parallels between you and your mom!
I love your theory on the romance in Paris! I completely agree; the passion and love in the city comes from those struggling emotionally and financially in order to keep living there. This exists in a lot of the best cities like London and New York too, thanks for sharing, you have a super cool mum and I hope that if you ever have children they are as fascinated by your teenage years as you are by your mum’s!
at one point, i forgot who was who. so magically intertwined. *sighs*
Tears. Feelings. This is just incredible. I love it so much. As the 22-year-old daughter of a mother who’s been dead for nearly five years… as a lonely person. Ugh. Thank you for sharing this, Eleanor and Melanie. *bookmarks*
this is so lovely, Eleanor’s photography is always super cute and I have so many memories of walking along hampstead heath and beachy head too <3
These photos are so gorgeous – and they totally appeal to my cyclical nature of life and humanity vibes. I was decorating my brother’s wall with my photos this week (he’s at Uni so I’m claiming his wall as my own) and I was wondering what my children will think of my photos – I feel that question has been weirdly answered.
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I’m looking at these pictures and listening to Daughter. And it’s such a great feeling.
Eleanor you amaze me always <3
photos that make you want to take photos are the best photos.
also, as a student in Paris i completely agree, romance is alive as ever in Paris, just not where you expect it.
this is so cute<3 your relationship with your mother seems to be great, that's awesome and I'm slightly jealous.
I love those pictures,though.
I really enjoyed looking at the photos. I found them to be magical.
yep, this is definitely my favourite ever post on Rookie. Thankyou Eleanor, you’re amazing. <3
This post is breathtakingly beautiful.
The concept is wonderful. I’ve only recently discovered how similar I am to my mother.
I love your observation on Paris too!
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This photo set makes me so emotional.
Beautiful.
Wow, I am amazed by the magic and vibes of these photographs, paired with their stories. It makes me feel like I was there, on the adventure, and it makes me want to have those explore-summer-happiness-friends kind of time. I’m not the best at putting what I feel in words, but this photoset is absolutely stunning and I love it. In Rookie slang, I’d say ‘rad vibes’.
Beautiful series, loved every picture
As someone who is close with her mother, I find this really sweet and beautiful.
These were all really sweet!
Eleanor, this is so beautiful, eerie and interesting. Thank you.
This makes my heart ache with romantic feelings. I wished I made photographs of all the people I loved and love.
the las t quotation is actually so true!! and I love every sigle picture. I wish I could take some pictures like that sometime, of people I love and are important to me you know? WEll, thanks for those potos