Ed and Juana

Meet my Uncle Ed and Aunt Juana. If I’m being honest - it’s actually my great Uncle Ed and my great Aunt Juana but they’ve always felt like a regular aunt and uncle to me. I can’t remember when I first met them because they’ve always been there. When I was younger they lived in a trailer on my grandpa’s property for a time while their house was being built in Montana. At the time I was probably eight or nine and I loved seeing them when I went out to my grandparents farm. Ed would yell at me, “Hey Squirt - get over here.” which is his way of saying “Hey kid, come over here and spend some time with me." Aunt Juana has always been warm and inviting. I remember when she was growing a little garden in front of their trailer, I remember the way she delicately handle the plants as she pruned them. Juana has a quiet strength about her and I have always loved to be around that.

Last summer (summer 2021) my family and I were able to make a little stop at Ed and Juana’s on our road trip up to Canada. In true Juana hospitality she set us up with a nice guest room to sleep in, a dinner made for us, homemade breakfast in the morning, and she sent us on our way with huckleberry jam and salmon she had canned herself. It was wonderful to spend some time with these two and finally have them meet my kids. After spending many hours catching up and hearing of Ed’s wild younger days in Butte, Montana I asked if I could snap a few portraits of the two of them together. I love photographing my family and to capture these two after fifty years of marriage together is a moment I will remember for a long time to come.

[Shot on Portra 400 taken with a Mamiya 645]