The Importance of a Photograph | Memories and Beyond

Personal

May 20

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Photos are still special, right? Let’s chat more…

In order to fully understand the value of photography and how special photos are in our lives we might have to journey back to the beginning, it’s time for a little photography history lesson!!

When did photography as we know it today begin and who pioneered this artistic revolution?

Well, back in 1826, “Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Daguerre are often considered the inventors of photography with cameras as we now know it.” And in 1963, Canon released their first digital camera prototype with autofocus. [1]

Okay, okay so photography history is interesting but what we’re really here to chat about is how photos are special to us, what brings value to the photographs we know and love today? Let’s all think back to digging through our family albums or those moments when our grandparents would share with us stories behind their family photographs from the early 1900s. Photographs are a way to capture our family history, to document who’s been an influential part of our family’s lineage.

Bringing it back to the present, today we see photographs or even videos of people documenting their lives to share with the world, and often times it may feel like the value of photos has shifted because of it. Instead let’s take this shift and run with it, let’s take photos to remember who we are and where we’re at now, because when we look back at these photographs we’ll see how time has changed in ways we’d never expect.

I believe that photos are special because we never know when our lives could completely change, when we might lose someone or when we’ll start new beginnings. Think about sitting on your front porch rocking your first born, think about that first spot where you fell in love with the love of your life, think about that perfect spot on campus to capture your graduation photos because YOU DID THE THING!!

Celebrate yourself and your body in every stage

Let’s dive a bit deeper into why photos are special, especially surrounding loss and grief, because during these last few years many of us experienced loss through illness, accidents or otherwise. When we were little kids looking through family photo albums of previous generations, we didn't feel the loss our family members [that came before us] felt when they passed away. But reflecting on the loss we feel directly is much harder to process and is often carried with us throughout our lifetime. Grief is something that often gets better with time, but it’s similar to an emotional scar, the wound has healed, but the memory of their loss will remain. Photos are that special healing tool that brings us back to who our loved ones once were, they existed in our space and time alongside us, and that connection will always be cherished.

Lastly, in a world of digital photography, we don’t often print our photos. But what makes this whole conversation is this idea of keeping a photo forever. Yes the cloud seems perfect, but who has had a hard drive crash, got a new phone and lost images, or even just honest use the cloud. Well many of us actually. So printing our photos on high quality prints, put into books, or made into wall art is an IDEAL way to keep what we love close. Remember that although printing photos may seem “Old School” remember when you got to walk down the halls at grandma and grandpas and see everyones smiling faces, and memories. Instead of having to open your phone and scroll scroll scroll to the time you did this and that. Just print them and walk down the hall way.

“You never know your last photo could be your last photo until it is.”

So, take time for yourself and your loved ones, book those sessions you’ve been thinking about, capture those moments so you can look back on those memories for generations to come.