Couples and time
This article presents photos of couples when young, and then the same couples years later. Some of them aren’t particularly interesting. The passage of the twenty years that takes a couple from their 20s to their 40s doesn’t ordinarily demonstrate much dramatic change.
But this photo duo interested me; it features a 50-year span. They say that the legs are last to go, and this woman certainly illustrates that fact. For both members of the couple, however, although they wear their years well, gravity has taken its inevitable toll:
Then we have this. Sixty years later, this woman is extremely recognizable:
Even among the famous, every now and then it lasts:
“Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!””
I had to chuckle when I found out that the young Queen had to practice with substitute ‘dummy’ crows to get her neck strength up.
They say the ‘crown’ is a heavy burden to carry — meaning the duties of office.
However, that dang thing is HEAVY indeed.
You can’t tilt your head down or back — and have to look left and right very regally — or that monster comes flying down. Heh.
Not exactly comfort wear.
Considering her son, we can only say: “Long live the Queen.”
And we’re not even her subjects.
( Charles wants to put Islam on the same footing as the Church of England.
( Say,…. WHAT…!
The wife and I just celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary yesterday!
The later years of a long marriage, can be the best. Despite the aging of the flesh and outward appearances, the inner glow of love keeps your world warm and welcoming.
Queen Elizabeth – what a trooper! She has had to uphold the dignity of the royal family through many trials, and it hasn’t been easy. Well done, Ma’am, well done!
The young royal couple were a handsome pair. Congratulations snopercod! We celebrated 47 August 12.
Congrats to you, too, parker!
J.J.,
I’m with you on the queen. I arrived in Salisbury the day Diana died, and I couldn’t stand the hysteria, especially when the people criticized Elizabeth for not leaving her grandkids to come and comfort them. I can’t imagine being in the spotlight for an entire life. She is probably the definition of real class for our real era.
If they weren’t identified as such, I wouldn’t link the before/after pictures of the Asian couple as the same people. The man perhaps. The woman not at all.
Even with the power of suggestion and looking closely for subtle similarities, I still can’t see that the younger and older Asian women are the same woman.
Congratulations snopercod and parker!
blert:
When I first read your post, I wondered what those “dummy crows” were all about.
And here I thought crows were supposed to be so smart 🙂 .
Cute and sweet. Sweet and cute.
Good eye , Eric. Look at the feet of the “Asian woman” – they’re way longer in the older version.
snopercod,
Plus, the young Asian man and woman are exceptionally good looking – as in model-quality good looks. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out the older couple is real, but the photo of the younger couple is staged and not them.
I’d suggest the Asian couple IS a staged photo, taken within minutes of each other. The splash pattern of the waves on the rocks is identical in both pictures (compare the area to the right of the mans hips) and the grass plants in the top left are of identical size and distribution – after 50 years. The patterns in the grass growth are also the same in a number of places.
Mr Black,
Good call. I didn’t think to scrutinize the background. The similarity of the grass is especially suspicious.
Mr. Black and Eric:
If so, how is it that the girl’s legs and the woman’s legs are so very alike?
Neo,
Are they? Hard to tell. And hard to isolate from the more apparent disparities, such as snopercod’s observation that the older woman’s feet appear to be significantly longer than the younger woman’s feet.
As for the length of the feet, that’s not a sure tell. My feet grew from a size 9 in my early twenties to a size 11 after 2 pregnancies.
Dawn and Eric:
Feet definitely change and grow (and spread) over time. Also, when I looked at the photos, in the older one the people are closer to the camera, and their feet are considerably closer, I believe.
Why would they even bother to fake the photos? The two photos were part of a feature that wasn’t going viral or anything like that, and the other photo sets were very clearly of the same people earlier in time and then later. I can’t quite figure out what the payoff would be for faking just this pair.
Eric: yes, her legs are nearly exactly the same in the two photos.
Who knows why? That question doesn’t change that on visual inspection, the 2 women don’t appear to be younger and older versions of each other, apart perhaps arguably of some similarity in their legs, and key background features in the photos are suspiciously similar.
The woman’s nose is the same in both pics also, despite the difference in head angles. Same narrow bridge and wide nostrils.
As far as comparing feet length, to account for camera/zoom distance, use the rock features for comparison. It helps that their heels appear to be placed very close or on the same spot.
I’m aware that feet normally widen with age – mine have – but I was not aware that the degree of elongation suggested in the photos is normal.
Eric:
Again, why on earth would this one photo pair be faked? And how is it that the woman’s legs are so very very similar? Their feet are similar, too (the toe shape, heel shape, etc.), only bigger. Look at the mans’ facial features. They are very much like the young man’s, only older. Even the expression (mouth, eyes) is so similar. I don’t think that could be faked.
To me, the woman’s face looks very similar, too, with age and extra weight. She is posing differently in terms of head position (if the photo were faked, why wouldn’t they make sure her head was in the same position?). But her features look very much the same, only older.
To me, the oddest and most suspicious thing about the photos is none of those things. It’s the grass on the upper left of the photo. That makes me wonder—although I still don’t know what the point of a fake would be. It’s not like you couldn’t easily get photos that are real of couples then and now–so why fake one? It’s not Sasquatch we’re talking about, or UFOs.
Too many conspiracy theorists in our time!
I’m with Neo. Why go to such lengths to fake 50 yrs of a couple aging (and remaining together no less! Of course, could be wrong, and there seem to be several of you with similar idea, so who knows?
I’m a very artsy person and I have always tended to over-scrutinize visuals as that’s how I taught myself to draw and
paint. My process is to sort of “flatten” out 3-d into 2-D with my eyes and my brain and use the relationship of tthe lines to one another, the angles and such to understand and replicate a similar effect/perspective. And believe me, I scrutinized everything. Unlike many of you, I focused more on the rock formations as opposed to the people: all the liines,
indentations, shadows and such looking for change, erosion, et over 50 years.
It’s a tough call. The grass does not seem that different. In fact, there’s a sprout along the top of grass (a pc. in a V-shape that is a little thicker than the other blades) a little past middle of grass section that is identical in both pics. As are the lines and planes of the rocks.
I also marveled at how the couples were sitting in almost identical position relative to the rocks, never mind each other, in both photos.
It occurred to me that a) they might very well be sitting in front of a backdrop.
And no one mentioned anything about the man. He is rather large and tall quite twhich is not all that common with Asians). His feet and toes are noticeably elongated, too. The biggest difference: the depth of water at their feet and how high the surface is relative to the rocks, as well as expected aging lines in faces, a little flab and looser skin here and there.
My guess: Same couple + 50 yrs.
They are either sitting in same setting with a little photoshopping along the bottom including both their feet and water…
OR, 2nd photo is same couple 50 years later with remarkably little change in their bodies (both seem quite physically fit in both pics considering) and the second picture was shot with bluescreen (or some neutral) background, and then photoshopped onto the original picture.* That would account for the toes/feet elongations and depth of water, as well as the amazing likeness of rock formations, lack of change in grass growth and so forth.
* – (In my opinion the more likely scenario).
I suppose my guess qualifies as just one more conspiracy theory, but I do think it’s same couple
By the way, does anyone remember those Hilight Magazines for kids (usually in the pediatrician’s or dentist’s waiting rooms to keep our brains occupied instead of dwelling on the approaching confrontation with doctor?). A regilar feature ( my favorite part) was a detailed line drawing with objects hidden in the picture that you had to find. That’s what I was reminded of as I scrutinized these pictures meticulously looking for telltale clies!
C. Simon:
I think your theory about the bluescreen and then the photoshopped background makes sense.