There’s something to be said for the printed photograph. The weight and feel of the paper, the memory it holds deep in our psyche….the smells, sounds and feelings it generates with a quick glance. How can it contain the power to completely transform us even if it’s only for a few minutes.
Times change, I get it. A printed photograph can’t be tagged or liked or shared and commented on but where are those perceived accolades going to be in ten years? Are we still going to be able to view them and remember how they made us feel? What’s going to happen to the millions of snapshots we take every year…where will they live and how will we be able to access them? …or will we?
I remember when my Grandmother was in her eighties saying to me, “We’re getting older and will have to move soon. I would like you to have these photo Albums.” I felt like I was just awarded the highest honour and as we flipped pages together she reminded me of of the names I had forgotten and the moments she cherished before I was born. Even now, I tear up remembering the day we spent reliving and laughing about old times. Turning the browned and cracking plastic covering the curling paper, smelling the dusty breath coming with each motion.
THIS is part of what makes me so passionate about what I do. I don’t think I realized it when I was twenty or even thirty but getting older makes you appreciate the past so much more and the memories you had with loved ones.
Capturing those moments in time for people is something I’m so proud of. I know that every single one of the hundreds of people of the years I’ve photographed will turn to those images and ‘feel’ those amazing memories over and over….and when they grow older, it’s going to be their children and grandchildren that cherish those memories.
You may not think an Album is important when you weigh out the cost of getting married, and maybe you’re right; you don’t need it, THEY do.
