Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

Part of my current job is photo restoration, I get to work on photos of all ages. The oldest one I have worked on is from the 1920s, where the owner brought in a print that was well worn and a remarkably well preserved negative. Another customer wanted her son's newborn pictures restored after the sun damage from hanging on the wall for years (he's getting married in a few weeks, not so new-born anymore). Then an archivist from town came in with an envelope of slides that had been donated after a person's passing. These slides were photos of the town from the 1960's, photos of a parade, a car passing by, and a group of workers out in the woods with their tools.

And while I work on these restorations, taking care of these wonderful memories of time, I often pause to think about the images that I take.

I distinctly remember "You're taking a photo of that??" when I was taking a photo of a damaged surf board, left on the side of the beach during a beautiful sunset... and describing it, it sounds weird, right?

But it meant something to stop and take a picture. It was important. I felt obliged to take out my camera, line of a composition, and take a shot. Documenting the world that we live in is important.

One day, a family member might be looking through my work when my hands don't work, helping them piece together the parts of my life through the images. And having these photos sit on hard drives, as well labelled, organized and documented as I try; it does not beat the intangibility, the ease of sharing the big and small moments that mean the world. Even if people stop and ask you why. We put so much time and effort into taking incredible photos that we are proud of, we should show them off.

Print them for our own enjoyment. Print the little 4x6s to give to friends and family of the memories that were made together. The dirty parts of the town that you grew up in. These moments meant enough to capture then. What will they mean tomorrow? Where will they end up? Who knows how long they will last. Leaving them on hard drives in 0s and 1s is doing a disservice to the photograph.