The living photograph is actually a poem about a grandchild who really miss the

grandmother. it is about the family relationship between grandchild and the grandmother.
the way the persona describe the grandmother show that the persona was so close with the
grandmother until the last moment of the grandmother life which the grandchild stay beside
her and we can take that from "her big hand holds mine". the way the persona describe the
other world was somewhere awful, unknown and unthinkable shown the persona was
thoughtful.
hope this answer could help you to understand the poem

My small grandmother is tall there,

straight-back, white broderie anglaise shirt,
pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,
a kind, old smile round her eyes.
The first four lines described the grandmother's physical appearance.
(duh)
Her big hand holds mine,
white hand in black hand.
White hand represents the poet's youth, purity, and innocence.
Black hand represents that the grandmother is experienced, an old soul, and has
been through a lot, yknow, since she's old.
Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye.
The grandmother is dying.
(again, duh, kinda obvious isn't it)
It was true after all; that look.
My tall grandmother became small.
Her back round and hunched.
The grandmother's physical appearance went she was in the jaws of death.
Her soup forgot to boil.
The grandmother is too ill, she could no longer take care of herself.
She went to the awful place grandmothers go.
She died.
Somewhere unknown, unthinkable.
The afterlife.
But there she is still,
in the photo with me at three,
the crinkled smile is still living, breathing.
The poet's memory of her grandmother is still fresh and new.