Personal phones are a great invention which make life easier. I have often felt a sudden panic when I couldn't find mine because my entire world was contained within it. It contained my email, calendar, contacts and social media access that I could monitor and change in a minute. And let's not forget about capturing moments of time with our camera phone that give us photos that are quite clear and sharp. But what happens once we take the photos? Do we put them on USB drives to later print? Or do we tether our phone to a larger monitor to review over and over again? Do we print them?
What do we do with the photos taken with our camera phone especially after our storage becomes limited and something has to be deleted? For the most part images of loved ones stay in the phone or get stored on some hard drive or social media and the joy is short-lived and soon forgotten, but what happens when the technology changes too? These photos are now in danger of being lost. As time goes on and loved ones are no longer with us we scramble to find old photographs for tangible evidence of them and to experience the joy of seeing and remembering the times we had with them. We treasure images of ancestors from long ago even though the photos are in black and white or sepia tones and grainy. We love the vintage feel of a time gone by and spend money to restore them so a new generation can enjoy them. So what happens when there aren't any old photographs for us to find?
We are living in an era that is disappearing because we are no longer capturing our family and friends in portraits and our walls are empty of those we long to keep close to us. If ever there was a time to renew our interest in portrait photography it is now. With technology changing quickly photos have become throwaway images only to be seen for a brief time on social media or on our phones. With the technology we have today it creates lives that are going at a fast pace, people are traveling more than ever, and children who once lived near their parents when they were on their own are now living in other states and countries.
Portraits are created to bring joy to your family and friends but just as important they bring joy to you. This is something you can do for yourself, to celebrate who you are and to take delight in being you. You can display them where you can see them everyday and give them to family and friends as gifts, but most importantly, they are your legacy to be passed down to your children and from generation to generation. Rediscover portrait photography for a joy that keeps giving for a lifetime.
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever: Its loveliness increases: It will never pass into nothingness." - John Keats
