There is still immeasurable value in a photo album and framed family portrait. Not the photo albums of old, with the sticky back and the plastic film flap that protects the photos…photo albums are graphically designed and laid out to perfection.
Imagine this…what if we lost all power or internet connectivity and we no longer had access to the photos on our phones, computers, or clouds? An ever more common occurrence, what if we lost our phone or the hard drive on our computer crashes? (Rent the movie Book of Eil…it will help you imagine and it is a good movie)
I recall when my son was just 2 years old, he would sit in from of my laptop for 20-30mins at a time, enjoying all of the pictures that rotated, flipped, faded, or dissolved onto the screen. My screensaver was set to display all of the pictures stored on my laptop. Initially, I thought he was simply fascinated with the variation by which the images popped up on the screen. It was not until a year or so later that I realized, he was taking in the memories of the moments, recalling the emotions he felt in those photos.
As a new dad…I tried to capture every single moment I could of my son. I was a proud papa! I would capture all of the special moments, like our first trip to Disney World. I did not take my first trip to Disney World until I was almost 30. He had been 2 times before his 6th birthday.
Years later, he would talk about moments in those pictures, outside of the moments captured by the camera. It was as if he was able to relive the snapshot of time over and over again by watching the pictures on my screensaver. Recently, I walked into his bedroom, he is 10 now, and he was looking through his 2nd grade yearbook, recalling memories of his classmates. He really values the memories that are captured through photos.
For families, pictures are very important and are worth so much more than 1000 words. What I realized early on is that I was always the picture taker, but very seldom in the picture. Many people and families fail to take pictures, because of their own self image. Then I realized, pictures are really not for or about me. Pictures help my son recount all of the loving memories of his childhood, times with his family, more specifically, quality time with his mom and memorable moments with his dad. Memories happen without warning.
Again…Imagine if we, somehow, lost all of the data on our devices. I know you’re thinking, “That will never happen, ’cause the thingy is backed up to the jigga-ma-bob, and the virtual cloud will kick in…I said imagine! …or watch Book of Eli!
What if “later” never comes and your family does not have any photos of you or the entire family “together” to recount the lasting memories of YOU? Capturing, or better yet creating special moments, because ‘you don’t like to take pictures!’
Pictures are not about You! I realized, I sometimes masked my uneasiness of taking pictures with always being the one behind the camera. In the same way my son was able to spend so much time looking at images of himself, he should be able to reminisce about our family time together. #legacy
My wife loves a great family photo and she encourages us to take advantage of the opportunity every chance we get. Ugh! 🙂 We recently had a photoshoot with ImagesByMarcAnthouny.com At Images By Marc Anthony, their slogan is “Capturing the Essence of You!” The images they took, truly embodies who we are as a family. This is the first time I have experienced an emotion when looking at images of my family. Images By Marc Anthony captured candids and staged poses that were natural as we simply enjoyed time together as a family. It was like we were out enjoying a walk in the park.
My 10 year old son actually exclaimed, “Aawwwwww!” the first time he saw the images because Images by Marc Anthony “captured our essence” as a family. We can now display images that represent who we are, not on social media, but on the walls of our home. For generations, on walls of my son’s home and even his children will be able to see the love and joy their father and grandparents experienced as a family.
There is still immeasurable value in a photo album and framed family portrait. I know we are in a digital age, but I can tell you first hand, this experience and quality time with family was a priceless investment whose returns will last beyond my lifetime.
Invest in your family. It will live Beyond the Selfie Stick.
theoriginalmentor 