We have an ongoing project around our house \u2014 we have thousands of old photographs taken over the years and we\u2019re making an attempt to organize them and scan them into a digital format. I\u2019ve got the job of scanning and Claire has the un-enviable job of categorizing them and identifying the subjects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyhow, as I\u2019ve gone through these old pictures, I noticed that a lot of the pictures were of friends, and families, gathered together. It made me think about the way people take pictures these days. If you check the pictures you\u2019ve taken on your iPhone, I\u2019d bet it\u2019s full of screenshots and selfies. Why don\u2019t people take pictures with their friends \u2014 or family \u2014 anymore?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mentioned screenshots \u2014 a lot of the pictures I have on my phone are of things I need to buy a part for, or to remember, or something someone sent to me for some reason \u2014 it\u2019s more of a memory\/reference book than a photo album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I noticed a lot of our older pictures are of groups, usually families, gathered in from of the house. The house seems to always be a part of the picture. Front-of-the-house family photos seemed to have been\u00a0 the thing back then.
I suppose before people had cameras, they must have hired photographers to take their pictures. Since a lot of these pictures are in front of the house, I guess photographers made \u201chouse calls\u201d like doctors. But we do have some old photos that were quite probably taken in a photographers studio.\u00a0
I hadn\u2019t thought about it before, but maybe having these pictures taken in front of a house was to send a message that the family was prosperous enough to own their home. I noticed that a lot of the newer \u2014 but still \u201cold\u201d \u2014 pictures were often taken at what looked like a picnic or\u00a0 with a car of some kind in the picture\u2026. again, maybe that was sending a message about their \u201cwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what\u2019s with all theses selfies? The Oxford Dictionary declared \u201cselfie\u201d the word of the year in 2013. At that time, it was defined as \u201ca photograph that one has taken of oneself.\u201d\u00a0 But today it seems to be a bit more than that\u2026. it\u2019s kind of a photograph that \u201cfeatures\u201d oneself.\u00a0
And to be honest, our society has become so complicated, that taking group pictures is more difficult, and people may think it\u2019s intrusive. You now have to worry about being sued or some kind of legal action being taken anytime you\u2019re around other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking at our old pictures, it seems that they weren\u2019t taken just for the sake of taking a picture \u2014 a lot of them marked some important event or milestone \u2014 a baptism, wedding, or maybe a vacation.\u00a0
Looking through the pictures on my phone, doesn\u2019t feature many special events \u2014 there\u2019s probably more pictures of \u201cstuff\u201d and \u201cthings\u201d than people \u2014 or \u2014 special occasions.
If your phone pictures are like that, maybe it means that our online life is becoming more important than our offline existence\u2026. maybe we should change that. It might be nice to look at our families in front of the house again\u2026..
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We have an ongoing project around our house \u2014 we have thousands of old photographs taken over the years and we\u2019re making an attempt to organize them and scan them into a digital format. I\u2019ve got the job of scanning … Continue reading