When I was growing up, my parents studiously put together photo albums and maintained a large collection of photographs. These days, most photos are digital, which makes keeping a photo album strangely difficult. Isn't that odd? Photos are more common than ever, but if you don't have your phone with you then how do you show them off? Sure, you could print them off--though you require either going to the store or a specialized printer to do so--or you could get one of those digital photo frames (funny things, which hold many hundreds of images and can cycle through them).
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| My parents, circa 1981. Shouldn't this be in an album? |
I love the ease of photos now, but also sigh with sadness at the loss of picture albums. Some of my favorite memories are sitting on the couch, flipping through photos, and listening to stories about each image. Families get to know each other through photos, and somehow that's being lost. Maybe now it's become an art form--such as scrapbooks--and special attention is given to them? I don't think so. We are so determined to snap thousands of images that we scarcely consider how to present them to others. It's tough to match the wonder of a picture held in your hands, with the date and location scrawled on the back for timely reference.
Funny how nostalgia bleeds throughout your life. I find myself pining for simpler days very frequently anymore. Perhaps I'm getting old ... I prefer to think I'm growing wiser ... or senile. Memory and emotion floods me when I look at old pictures. Also, physical photos don't require electricity to display, won't be deleted accidentally (unless you're very inattentive), and can be restored to their original luster with care. See? There's lots of good reasons to have a photo album! Go out and make one today.
- M
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