Relative Images

The concept for relativeimages.com is based on another website of mine called The Prichard Collection which is comprised of 2,993 digitized 35mm color slide transparencies which are in rich, beautiful color, taken by my late Great Uncle, Robert Harrison Prichard (1910-2005), who was an amateur photographer as well as an educator and minister, and his wife, the late Betty Jane (Curry) Prichard.

The photographic record they created spans nearly three decades, from about 1947 through 1975. The majority of the photos were taken in the Mingo and Logan County areas of West Virginia, and cover a variety of subject matter concerning the everyday lives of my extended family, friends, and community in the Appalachian Mountain region, and the travels of our families across the country.

Launched in 2008, The Prichard Collection accumulated over 550 members, with continued growth, which exceeded my expectations. Many of the members have sent emails or signed the guestbook with messages of thanks, and expressions of appreciation for putting the collection online; happy that they could again see people, places, and eras long gone. The unexpected interest and enjoyment of The Prichard Collection by so many is the driving inspiration for the creation of relativeimages.com.

In addition to moving The Prichard Collection to this site, I have added more galleries that I have been privileged to digitize from the personal collections of an my late Aunt Sallie Lu Bannister, sister Detra Bannister, and many from my personal collection.

In addition, I have about 3 hours worth of audio material of my great-grandmother, Lula (Maynard) Curry, singing songs and telling family histories and folktales; and of my parents, Wallace and Dorothy Bannister, and grandfather, Troy Bannister, and others singing gospel songs. Most, if not all of these were recorded in the early 1960s.

relativeimages.com is the home for these family collections, where I write weekly about a person, place, building, etc., from one of the collections. In some instances, I’ll include an audio clip of the person in the photo, talking about their memories, telling stories, or singing songs. More galleries may be added in the future.

I hope you enjoy the photos, articles, audio clips and memories; and that you’ll tell yiour family and friends about relativeimages.com.

Kevin