Saturday, May 5, 2012

Snapshots….  I watched a commercial earlier today where the actor commented on how the quality of photos he’d take with his cell phone were inferior, causing him to later delete them.  That got me to wondering about why we take photos—for whom.

Years ago, we’d take tons of photos, hoping that a few good ones could be later developed from those roles of film.  Ones we’d be able to post in picture frames around our houses, put in photo albums or give to others.  Having four kids, I was an avid photo taker, snapping photo after photo, then having them developed at the most cost-efficient places I could find.  The tabletops in my house are still covered with a menagerie of those images, forever captured on film.  Those that didn’t make it into picture frames line pages of photo albums that I delight in watching my kids take out and browse through. 

Nowadays, we’re spoiled to instant gratification of photo taking with digital devices that let us know immediately if the photos we’ve taken are worthy of saving or should be deleted.  Though not many of those photos manage to make it to printed versions that adorn our tabletops in complimenting frames, we do enjoy sharing them with friends and storing them on our smart phones so when asked, we can whip out a litany of images to show others.

But let’s dig deeper…  Why do we take these photos?  For whom?  If asked this question, my answer would be that I take them for my children, friends and those whom are forever captured in the photos.  I don’t take them to hoard for myself.  In fact, if asked, I’d gladly give them all away to those individuals depicted in the photos.  Why?  Because I have indelible impressions of the photos in my mind that I can and do frequently flip through.  I don’t need photo albums or framed pictures to remind me of where I’ve been or with whom I’ve shared special moments.  Instead, my memory serves as a wonderful reminder. 

In short, the photos I take are a living legacy meant to be handed over to others who might have been too young at the time to recall the captured moments.  Nothing gives me more satisfaction than to see folks pick up a framed tabletop picture, flip through pages of old photo albums or sift through images captured on digital devices, their faces beaming with broad smiles as they do so. 

This is why I take photos…and for whom.  Whether or not the hard copies get deleted is irrelevant, for they shall always remain in the recesses of my heart and mind, just waiting to be recounted to others.