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Mural tells family’s story
Photo
Thomas Baldwin stands in front of some of the photos of family and friends that cover the wall of his Youngstown home. The mural represents 63 years of family photo-taking for Baldwin.
By christine keeling
youngstown
The walls at one South Side man’s house tell a tale of life and love.
Thomas Baldwin has been shooting pictures of family and friends for 63 years. The thousands of photos comprise a “Shots of Love” mural that decorates the walls of several rooms in his Hudson Avenue home.
Baldwin said he started snapping pictures when he got a camera at 18 years old. It wasn’t until he retired from U.S. Steel, 28 years ago, that he decided to put them out for people to see.
He said he never missed a day of work at the mill.
“I didn’t have anything to do [after retirement],” said Baldwin “So I made myself a job and started putting them on the wall.”
Black-and-white photos dating from the1960s start in a small room at the bottom of his basement steps. As the photos travel around those four walls, the four walls of a bar room and make a turn back up the stairs, they show a family grow through six generations.
They also reveal changes in the photography world, in fashion and in hair styles.
“I like what I have on,” said Thomas’ grandson, Barry Baldwin, as he pointed to a photo of himself wearing a blazer at 6 years old.
He doesn’t think the 30 years that have passed since the photo was captured have caused him to lose his style, he said.
Priscilla Colbert, Thomas’ daughter, said she got to know her grandparents from the wall.
“It keeps memories alive,” said Colbert, as she pointed out a picture of her mother, also named Priscilla, who passed away 26 years ago.
Some friends and other people don’t even know they are on the wall, she said.
President Barack Obama probably is one of them.
Photos from when the president visited Lordstown are in the stairwell. Jody Baldwin proudly pointed to a picture of himself holding an Obama shoe the commander in chief signed.
“I took off work early and went to Lordstown to get the perfect spot,” said Thomas’ son.
He said security told him it’s probably the only shoe the president has ever and will ever sign.
Each photo is its own story. And though most show happy times, such as birthdays and weddings, Colbert said others make her cry.
And though modern cameras have caused Baldwin to stop taking pictures, his family won’t let the tradition die.
They are responsible for hundreds of pictures that adorn the walls of his living room and kitchen.