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Documenting Retired Life: A Personal Photo Project from Jen Faith Brown
After working extremely hard for over thirty years, both of my parents retired this year. As a personal project, I followed them around for a couple hours to document what retired life is all about for them.
My dad is a lover of all art. He has a workshop in the backyard in which he paints, dabbles in woodworking, writes poetry and plays his guitar. On this morning, he was working on a frame for his latest creation.
I always knew my dad was a bit of a collector of random junk, but it wasn’t until I went in the workshop to do these photos did I realize how much stuff he had! Literally from rafters to the floor was filled with an assortment of objects that either have meaning to him, such as New York references (his hometown) or objects he simply thought were ‘neat’ (like a giant instrument or oversize shears).
My mom is creative in her own way and enjoys knitting. She actually taught me to knit when I was much younger, but I stopped after making a couple scarves and one blanket. My mom, however, is a master at her craft and makes absolutely beautiful baby blankets for all her grandchildren as well as for her friends’ new bundles of joy.
One thing my parents have always enjoyed doing together is going antiquing. This probably explains where my dad finds his unique possessions. We headed to a local antique mall for a quick shopping trip and then to an Italian restaurant for lunch, because if you know my dad, you know he doesn’t ever miss a lunch.
My dad is Italian, so it was quite appropriate we ended up at Napoli’s, but this was also a meaningful location in that they used to eat there after ballroom dance lessons years ago when my younger sister was getting married.
So, overall, retired life is not too shabby! I’m so happy for my parents to enjoy this time together.
Story + photography contributed by Jen Brown.
About Jen Brown: I’m a documentary photographer from Dallas, Texas focusing mainly on my own children with client sessions sprinkled in. I love preserving memories of life with three boys in a special and meaningful way. Website // Instagram
