"He couldn't go. The tenderness was out of control. As was the longing for everyone to be living. And to have it all over again."

"Everyman" - Philip Roth

Last year a friend, who had written a history of his family, suggested I do the same. I was unable to write anything, although I felt I wanted to, being the last repository of memory of the lives of those who brought me here. Instead I made a small collection of family photos, which I called "Tenderness", taking the word from the Philip Roth quote, where the character is, in fact, standing at the graves of his parents. I wanted to put some of the photos on my website, choosing images that I think have a certain mystery and power beyond their sentimental personal meaning. Susan Sontag taught me the importance that the passage of time confers on photographs, and I have included some quotes from her with some of the photos.

-Michael Maggid, Petaluma, December, 2007




The Magic Studio