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Sunday, November 13, 2005

Patricia Finlay

patti_dress_up.jpg
September 14, 1955 – November 8, 2005

Photos displayed at yesterday’s Memorial Reception .

posted by Michael at 3:08 pm  

6 Comments »

  1. These are beautiful photos covering all phases of Patti’s life. I had to look at them over and over to totally absorb them. Thanks for sharing.

    Comment by chris — November 13, 2005 @ 7:51 pm

  2. MORE photos than were displayed at the Reception. Which was a lot to begin with … And yet more on the walls of their home, both collections an eloquent gathering of love and admiration. A rich and full life, and one knows that even this profusion but scratches the surface. She is a well-loved woman, even if not walking amongst us any more …

    Comment by adam — November 14, 2005 @ 6:44 am

  3. The celebration of Patti’s life would have not been the same without your incredible photo-biography Michael. Great tribute, reminding us all of times past — and how youthful beauty and promise gives way to wisdom and mellowness of age.

    Patti lives on in Emma and Kate and our memories of her.

    Comment by smilin — November 14, 2005 @ 9:49 am

  4. It’s not often one gets to see such a great photographic tribute to someone. Now that I have an inkling of Patti’s life, I wish I had a chance to know her when she was well and vibrant.

    Comment by rakkity — November 14, 2005 @ 3:47 pm

  5. Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry.

    That took me 20 minutes and 2 tries to write. I kept deleting things that didn’t say anything … not that this does.

    I guess I could manage to add 2 small specifics — this cover photo, or whatever you call it, it’s really wonderful. And that one from ’77, is it, including Michael … well, doesn’t that show how very much Michael will do for his family?

    But the main thing is, and sorry I can’t think of a less trite way to say this, … I’m so sorry.

    Comment by on looker — November 14, 2005 @ 10:15 pm

  6. I’m back from Asia, and have gotten the news. Here are my reflections, step by step, through this gallery. As you’ll notice, sometimes I’m drawn into the image of Patti, others I’m definitely on the outside looking in. From the the outside, there’s Sunset strip and what looks like an album cover photo akin to the Holding Company, and a Janis Joplin protégé’, a tough girl. But from the inside at 4 months, it’s—Ready or Not, Here I Am—or at 2 years in 1957, where I stand to the side of Patti, with the opportunity to see her, rather than be seen by her and be so dazzled by those eyes, which the photographer undoubtedly recognized in allowing us to gaze at her lips, her two front teeth, her chin, the power of that look balanced with a receptivity that brings it all home, to a listening presence at 2 to the world around her. Then there is the horsewoman: pony tail in the wind at Midas farm, her focus and determination so clear in the angle of her body, knees gripping the body while her hands pull up on the reins in the “lift” sending her horse into the air; and then of course there is the horse who appears to be lifting her young friend with all the encouragement in the world. Then 1968, at 15, long after the determination at 2, the discipline, risk, and adrenaline at Midas, now followed by the softest youthful beauty; yet, there again, the eyes catch the viewer, while the lips remain parted, in a gesture of listening as her head tilts just slightly. And then from girlhood, there is motherhood, and pure adoration.
    Matt’s baby shower: now there’s a kiss to remember, where the embrace takes place all between the lips, with Peter wearing what looks like an Aloha Shirt. Now, Patti and Carmichael, where Carmichael is suggesting that this woman belongs to him, and that he’d be nuzzling and licking her cheek if she weren’t holding his nose, and the intimation that he’ll get After the picture is taken. MisChief, Patti on the lawn holding this little puppy with dual natures, and clearly loved for both. 1967, the in-between time, where life is solid as a rock, but like a rock, unforgiving except for the life it supports and the probing it permits where, here in her young hand, a grass straw on the outside extends the mind’s quest on the inside: firm but hollow, tough but fragile. Now there’s a pose for the Uncle, where little dresses can be little angel wings. Christmas, where the stars line up, and the twinkling goes from eye to eye to the bluest of eyes. Ah, now the Maid of Honor: now there is her laughter, and such a very pretty dress, flowers. Then follows the ecstatic Diane with everyone focused away from the photographer–but for Patti and Susan, who are the only ones who know at that moment why they are there. Again, the horsewoman who is still a girl: the posture, the face divided by light and dark, win or lose, wearing a shirt with three stars, three colors, red-white-and blue. Girlhood to motherhood again, the love in those eyes, the slight smile in that face, the exhaustion of the journey, of birth, and re-birth. Patti and Michael: both so delicate, beautiful, and handsome. Here is Patti’s love of animals again so clear–and the love of animals for her just as clear, Freddy is one Happy Guy. 1973: Graduation, a force of nature, a natural beauty, the lips in a smile holding so much laughter, and eyes that have conquered the high school world: now we can directly face the look we witnessed at 2. Then, here’s the little sister transfixed by Diane. And now her wedding, and the passage into Husband and Wife. The wedding: a wonderful picture of Peter and Patti, where words can’t touch this moment. Baby: the photographer has done a wonderful job, in even getting Kate’s attention from this new world, a proud Mom and Dad are on their way. A wonderful shot of Patti, a portrait that synthesizes so many sides conveyed in previous images, where the eyes are thankfully focused away from the camera, and we can watch in wonder at that face, and those slightly parted lips once again, her right shoulder turned slightly forward; there is such determination in this soft pose, and the hidden side of Patti until now, camera lens poking into the frame, reminding us of someone whose eyes have been seeing and studying the world from the Other Side of the Lens. Patti helping Matt, now who could ask for a better introduction to the world of horses? Diane and Patti—the eyes, so perceptive, reveal the inner world of someone so touched, a rare picture in this series that shows a seeing that goes into the seer. Two families: 1999, cousins, sisters, a brother-in-law on one side, another hidden on the other, and the Maker in the middle. Again, the “eyes have it” from Diane to Flo to Patti: the Canning Vision. Happy 20th: Patti and Diane next to each other, the matching power in the stance of these two sisters, the shoulders of both women, their focus on one another, two halves of one whole. Mom—Emma and Kate—a face of light against the fireplace in the background, the look out over the shoulders of these little wonders. Thanksgiving! Easter Egg Hunt: sisters well into the experience of motherhood, with Patti (maybe) thinking about something left turned on at home? Talent night: now it’s time to kick-back, enjoy this sucker, and let others perform: mucklucks left on, and snow to tromp through? Diane looks like she could float away if not for mom on one side and Patti on the other; their mutual sentiments so clear in the shape of their mouths, their eyes: sisters indeed. Family: all eyes are looking out from the same place, Patti’s, however, radiate such enormous love, and the Papa appears so complete, so content. California Dreaming: that’s a flower that almost matches the beauty in her face, a picture deserving of a Hawaiian Paradise backdrop, Patti in another moment, unique in this series, arms behind her back, now looking toward and to one side, a sense of determination held back, vulnerability put forward, and the dream lived.

    Comment by Hawaiian reflections — November 16, 2005 @ 5:10 pm

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