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Home The Pictures Travels Uncle Berney The Project What is a Slide? About |
 For a number of years, I have shared my house with thousands of kodachrome and ektachrome slides that my wife and I rescued from her aunt's house when her aunt moved to a smaller place. The slide's were taken by her uncle Berney (technically her great-uncle, Charles P. Berney) known to everyone else simply as Berney. Now, you might not think that 1000's of old vacation slides are interesting, and most of the time you'd be right. But, the Berneys traveled everywhere. Everywhere! I have slides from China, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Africa, and Duluth, Minnesota. There can't be too many people who have taken a cruise that started in Minnesota and continued through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. They span the 50's through the 80's. And, Berney didn't just take a picture of the family standing in front of the Taj Mahal, he took pictures of people, and small places and landscapes. In World War II Berney was assigned to a photo tech unit, processing the film and printing the prints taken by cameras on board bombers after they returned from their missions. As a civilian he was a graphic artist, working for the federal government. Berney's slides are intriguing in both subject and composition. There is really only one thing missing from these slides, explanations. With Berney being gone, and his wife's health failing, there is no one to narrate them. A few have notes. Some of the rubber-banded stacks have labels. The majority are a mystery. So, here's the plan. I'm scanning and posting the slides here. It's going to be a long process, but I'll have regular updates. The slides have spaces for comments. You tell us what you know about the picture, or what you like about it, or what you think would be a good or even funny caption to it. |
Laos, Thailand, Australia 1971-72 |