May 7, 2011
Mothers Day Special: Baby, It’s You!
Before everyone had cameras, the baby picture was the purview of Mom and Dad. Among so many other things, we have them to thank for remembering to capture us as we once were: smaller, rounder, goofier, balder. (Although, in some cases, less bald.)
“Diaper backward spells repaid,” the distinguished social critic Marshall McLuhan once observed. And who are we to argue with that?
Today, in honor of Mother’s Day, we’ve gathered some of our favorite images from an earlier era — before apps and tags, when pools had nothing to do with Flickr. Some came to us with the scalloped edges redolent of the early Sixties, while others arrived indelibly tinged with the citrus hues from the earth-tone-Seventies. People from all over the world sent in school snapshots, dog-eared wallet photos, and faded Polaroids, all offering solid evidence of the degree to which we all made atrocious wardrobe choices. (Come to think of it, maybe that was Mom and Dad’s purview, too.) Throughout the images that follow are striking similarities between then and now — a preserved jawline, an enduring smirk — and just as many surprising differences. (See “balder,” above.)
Every last one of us began as a tinier version of what we are now, and if ever there was a moment to stop and consider that fact, today is it: the day we remember our dear Mothers, who sacrificed their sleep and their waistlines and so much more.
Thank you, mothers of design people. And Happy Mother’s Day to all.
Antonio Alcalá
Sean Adams
Deborah Adler
Keira Alexandra
Mariana Amatullo
Gail Anderson
Paola Antonelli
Allison Arieff
Eric Baker
James Biber
John Bielenberg
Michael Bierut
Teddy Blanks
Gaby Brink
Tim Brown
Stefan Bucher
Ralph Caplan
Allan Chochinov
Seymour Chwast
Beatriz Cifuentes
Elaine Lustig Cohen
Nancy Sharon Collins
Denise Gonzales Crisp
Liz Danzico
Nathalie Destandau
Stephen Doyle
William Drenttel
Arem Duplessis
Elliott Earls
Tina Roth Eisenberg
Mark English
Nancy Essex
Louise Fili
Karin Fong
John Foster
Milton Glaser
Barbara Glauber
Carin Goldberg
Bryony Gomez-Palacio
Ric Grefé
Stanley Hainsworth
Sylvia Harris
Jessica Helfand
Steve Heller
Gary Hustwit
Alexander Isley
Meena Kadri
Ethel Kessler
Chip Kidd
Alex Knowlton
Alexandra Lange
Julie Lasky
Nancy Levinson
Debbie Millman
Kali Nikitas
Derry Noyes
Clive Piercy
Emily Pilloton
Rocco Piscatello
Hank Richardson
Laurie Rosenwald
Jason Santa Maria
Louise Sandhaus
Paula Scher
Adrian Shaughnessy
Bonnie Siegler
Brian Singer
Nancy Skolos
Andrew Sloat
Matt Soar — Photo credit: David Ward, Studio Six and a Half
Erik Spiekermann
Todd St. John
John Thackara
Massimo Vignelli
Khoi Vinh
Carol Wahler
Josh Wallaert
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Observed
By Jessica Helfand
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