We begin with a story:
When Sarah was a newlywed, she stored some pictures in regular cardboard boxes in her garage. (We know—what a newbie!) After a particularly wet winter and upon discovering that her garage had a hole in the roof…well….the pictures were ruined and gone forever and Sarah was horribly sad.
Enter digital photography.
Like most people, we have been thrilled to our core with all the advancements in photography. These days, we can take pictures and see immediately that they turned out well and print them for very little money. It’s a dream come true for memory keepers and family historians like us. And keeping our photos on the cloud means that they are safe forever, right? And, if we keep CDs or, say, an external hard drive with our pictures backed up on it, we’re in great shape, right?
But, over the years, we’ve come to learn the importance of printing our pictures and keeping them in frames and albums.
Digital is for you today; Prints are forever.
Yes, digital backups are valuable. For you. And, for you cloud and Google Drive users, if your family has your passcodes and whatnot, they will someday be able to access your pictures when you’re gone. If they don’t have your codes or know where to look online, though, not so much.
And, for the back up hard drive user, there is a chance people who come across it later will be able to access the pictures on it. Unless their technology isn’t compatible. We hear stories, from time to time, about someone finding a box of old photos in Grandma’s attic. When people share these stories, the pictures are described as a found treasure. Think about those beautiful images, documenting a family’s history. When we consider a similar scenario with our great grandchildren finding our old hard drives or a box of CDs, we aren’t sure they will be all that interested in downloading anything or even if they will be able to!
It makes an aesthetic difference.
First of all, although it is so convenient to have pictures on our various devices, and we love sharing all our photos with people we meet in the line at the grocery store and in Zumba class, the electronic screen does not capture an image the way print does. Printed pictures are special. They feel good—the weight of the picture in your hand, it’s glossy or matte finish. There is a depth to them. And they have a visual impact that simply can’t be matched with an electronic screen.
It makes a difference to the people in your life.
When you make an effort to print a photo and give it to someone, you are, in essence, saying to them, “You matter to me.” And in this world that seems to run at an almost impossible pace, taking a minute or two to print a photo and gift it can make a real difference in the lives of people you care about most.
And, if you have a few more minutes, arranging those photos artfully in a memory album or 12×12 layout makes an even larger statement about how much you care. Memory keeping provides you with an opportunity to honor the people you photograph; to honor your life. We know people who are worth the effort and we bet you do, too!
Okay. We’ve said our peace. And, frankly, we’re beginning to have flashbacks to high school when Mrs. Raddatz assigned that “call to action” essay, so it’s time to wrap it up.
Happy January, Everyone!
