Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.
-Aaron Siskind
Do you think about photography as feeling, touching, and loving?
Feeling is obvious. You look at a photo, and it evokes emotions. You look at an image of your child. How does it make you feel? Happy because the time captured was a happy time? Sad because your child is grown and will never be that little again? Even a landscape or nature photo can tug at your heartstrings. You can share images you love, images that make you feel and others will feel in return.
But touching? Do they mean physical touch or like emotion?
Digital has changed the way we photograph. We all take several photos each day. Some are deleted immediately—others we share to social media. But do you ever print your photos? There is nothing quite like having a roll of film developed, waiting for the prints, and looking through to see what you got, which photos turned out.
We should be printing more photos. We should all have a tangible image in our hands. It’s an entirely different experience than looking on the computer and sharing on social media. There’s nothing like holding that print in your hands. Seriously. Print your photos and flip through them. Then flip through them again. Hold them and really look at them.
Which brings us to loving.
We tend to take photos of what we love. Our friends and family. Our pets. Places we’ve visited. You have those in your possession forever. You can go back and love them at any time, even after they’re gone. Or years after that epic trip to Hawaii.
Photography can help us remember.
How many times have you flipped through an old album and laughed at the time you had? You had completely forgotten about that time until you saw a photo, and it came flooding back. Or what about when we lose someone? We pull out all their pictures and remember them.
Our photos are our legacy.
They show how we felt. Who and what we loved. Photos show those little things that can be lost to time. Take the photo. Be in the photo. Print the photo. Create your legacy.
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