Photographic Memories: Susan Larkin captures life on the hill

Growing up in Rochester, Susan Larkin’s childhood was shaped by two accomplished parents. Her father worked as a chemist at Kodak, and her mother was a professional artist. Susan’s interests included oboe, English horn, and horses. From the universities where Larkin was accepted, Cornell was her choice. She wanted to go to the College of Veterinary Medicine. One of two women accepted in the Veterinary College in 1969, she however changed course at the last minute and started toward a degree in education.

When Susan was introduced by Cornell friends to Tim Larkin, she soon knew life with him would be good. And so, it has been. Together they have lived for 52 years in Caroline, where they raised two now grown sons, and each pursued their abilities and interests.

Tim, an English major, got a job tracking homing pigeons for a Cornell scientist which led to a lifetime of computer programming. 

Susan, who had circled back to get a degree in elementary education and middle school science, received a call in 1972 from the principal of the Newark Valley Middle School, inquiring, “would you like to come for an interview to teach fifth grade?” Four months later Susan began 30 years of teaching in Newark Valley, a scenic commute from Caroline.

“I retired in 2002. Over the years Tim and I made Christmas cards together and—while riding our tandem recumbent tricycle from Caroline to Nantucket and later Block Island—we created a blog. I documented each trip with photographs taken from the back of the tandem. Tim taught himself Photoshop, but I wanted to go back to school for a more serious study of photography, which would include Photoshop.”

“I found such a class at Tompkins Cortland Community College in 2005 and have been studying photography at TC3 ever since,” Larkin said. “It has been wonderful! My teachers and fellow students led me to the next chapter in my life.”

“In 2008 I started a book about our neighborhood on Bailor Road in Caroline. I combined photographs with stories neighbors wrote about our adventures between 1971 and 2008. It was going to be a handmade book, but when the semester ended, I wasn’t finished.”

“That summer, our teacher TC3, Harry Littell, researched print on demand companies, and in the fall we studied InDesign as well as Photoshop. Our Neighborhood became my first book printed by an outside company. We were no longer limited to what books we could create with our home printer, paper, and glue.”

Asking people to write for that book was a struggle, so for the next eight years, still in photography class, Susan moved on to make images of plants. 

“I made more books, started showing the photos in various exhibits, and in 2016 became a member of the State of the Art Gallery just west of the Commons in Ithaca,” she said.

“Somehow in 2020 something clicked in my head, and I wanted to return to people in our neighborhood,” Susan added. 

She recorded the stories people shared when she asked them, “When you think about living on our hill, what comes to mind?” 

“This time, I didn’t limit the project to people I already knew on Bailor Road, which ascends the west side of a hill in Caroline,” Susan said. “We had all arrived after 1970, and one might call us newcomers.”

There is another approach to the top of our hill—Buffalo Road ascends on the northwest side. Many families on this road have lived in the same area for generations. 

“When I asked them what comes to mind, they shared stories I’d not heard before,” Susan said. “Topics ranged from farming to car repair to tales of youthful escapades on land I now think of as mine. 

Susan collected the stories, along with photographs, to create her next book, Intersections, self-published in 2022.

“What I learned from asking everyone the same question was that there are more intersections between us than we might have imagined,” Susan said. 

Her current project involves collecting stories from beyond our hill. 

“I’m asking people who live in the town of Caroline, ‘What brings you here and what keeps you here?’ In late 2025 I hope to have another book of stories and photographs to add to my series about people who live in Caroline, New York,” Susan said. 

There is a preview of Intersections at Susan’s website: SusanCLarkin.com.The preview includes a link for online purchase. Intersections can be purchased locally at the Brookton’s Market on Valley Road in Brooktondale, Sweet Caroline on Slaterville Road in Slaterville Springs, or at the State of the Art Gallery in Ithaca. It is also available in area libraries.