Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken is a poem that
I have resonated with all my life and the last three lines are
the inspiration for the Biograph company.
If a life has a thread I want to find it and I am sure that it
is there if you look for it. In my previous careers as
teacher, trainer, career guidance counsellor, university tutor
and oral historian I spent many years listening to, and
helping individuals recount their story.
We have now developed a relaxed process that tries to capture
the essence of a person, that attempts to give them the
opportunity to describe and make sense of what has happened in
their life, and to have this recorded in a written document
for all time.
Attending the funeral of an old friend from London recently, I was struck by how little I knew about his early life. I know many people have had this experience and feel regret that questions we would like to have asked remain unanswered. Capturing someone’s life in a Biograph not only tells us about the events that took place in their life, it gives us insight and understanding about that person and what made them who they are — the story behind the photograph.
I am delighted to have joined the Biograph Company and to help inspire people to recognise that everybody’s life is interesting and worth writing about. The process makes having one’s life story recorded not just the privilege of the writing profession or the famous but within the realms of possibility for all of us.
Looking back over my life I am aware of the very different experiences and influences that have shaped me. In my previous work I have talked to and written about many different people including lawyers, nurses, journalists and librarians about their lives. Even the busiest people I have interviewed have always enjoyed taking the time to talk about their experiences and reflect on what is important to them.
