Photography and the printed picture dates back to the 1800s when Nicéphore Niépce took a picture called View from the Window at Le Gras, also known as the oldest surviving camera photograph. Since this time there has been hundreds of millions of camera photographs taken, printed, and shared. A process that once took hours to complete, now only takes a few seconds and at most a minute to print out and enjoy. However, what was once a prized possession such as the product of a camera photograph, came to be a thing of the past with advanced digital technology of the 2000s. But are physical pictures really a thing of the past?
When I was younger, my Gema (a cool alternative name for grandma… duh) took so many pictures of myself and our whole family, mostly candids to commemorate special events and family gatherings. She stored all of her pictures in photo albums which were displayed on her grand book shelf with according year. I always thought these pictures were so special because they were the only ones of their kind, original and rare. We would spend hours flipping through old albums of when my dad and his bothers were children, and we even found some beautiful black and white photos of my Gema in her modeling days. This time we spent together reminiscing and sharing stories are still some of my favorite moments i've ever had.
More and more as i've grown up, moved out of my childhood home, and began a life of my own have I realized how pictures of loved ones can really make a new place feel more like home. I often find myself going back looking for old treasures to display in my little city apartment along side my ridiculous photo booth pictures of my friends and I. As I sifted and searched, I began to realize that there were big chunks, even years missing from my parents albums and then realized that the albums ran out entirely. Confused and concerned I ask my mom where they had all gone, to which she lead me to her laptop and clicked on a file that lead to many others titled with dates and event names. All the pictures were stored on her computer drive in numerous files, many of which were stored inside other folders and so on. I found this frustrating because you can't hold and appreciate a picture in this way, and more so they were only ever viewed by said laptop owner, no sharing.
Convenience had become a thing of the 2000s that we have yet to come out of. No more are the occasions where an eager photographer anxiously awaits their pictures to print to see how they turned out and to display them for all to see. No, now only the good ones made it to social media profiles, and some would end up in a picture frame if it was deemed worthy. No more were the full albums of photographs taken and all kept safely for anyone to see. This really made me sad, and I felt like I was losing a piece of my childhood.
Luckily my generation is that of creative artists and enthusiasts of all things considered vintage, and with that came the reemergence of the printed photo. A few years ago I began to see polaroid cameras make their comeback, and I was one of the first in line to get mine (and a stylish record player of course). Not only could I take pictures on the go, now I had them right away and could display them all over my home, really… they are everywhere. I made it a point to be able to have something to show my kids one day, and make a tradition with them as my Gema did with me.
My point here is, not to become too dependent on any new technology or fad, because what was once considered old-fashioned is reestablishing itself in our fast-paced world. I don't know how far technology will take us, but one thing I do know is that when I'm too old to figure all that jazzy stuff out, i'll be able to sit back in my rocker with my pictures and live in those moments.
Make memories, and treasure them.
I completely agree with your point here. In our current digital age, everything is online, immediately accessible, but also heavily edited. No longer can others see our silly candids, read old letters, or flip through old family photos unless we choose to post them. We so carefully pick and choose what we post, and edit it before we do, that no one gets the full, nostalgic story anymore. The treasured physical mementos are becoming a thing of the past. I love the fact that "vintage" cameras, record players, etc. are coming back in style. I hope they continue to do so. The loss of our memories and mementos saddens me, and I hope we are on our way to reversing this trend.
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