I give credit to Jenna Christina, a documentary family photographer, for the inspiration and provocative questions she shared in her blog. Yes, I wondered what that job description was, too, and here are her words: documentary newborn and family photographer splitting her time between Finland and San Jose, capturing family life “as is” in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She says she helps families remember what life feels like right now (without the cheeses and poses). I love that thought. Isn’t that what we really like to see – those quickly captured photos of the “belly laugh” moment? …the all-out heart-felt major hug of the graduate with the parent at end of the long day of ceremony and before the cap and gown gets chucked? …the action shot of the 5 cooks in the kitchen hard at their tasks pre-Thanksgiving dinner? …the toddler stretched across dad on the couch, both fast asleep? And I bet you could add a list of your own.
So Jenna’s blog poked at us adults who get into patterns and routines with our lives. My photo routines were what she prodded me to consider. Yes, we have taken the family Christmas photograph lined up in front of the fireplace for umpteen years now. Sure, comparison through the years is fun – but I never captured the kitchen scene or some of the other “daily” items she made me consider.
And maybe these questions from Jenna will spur you to take different photos this Christmas and in the coming year as I expect I will! Or on any occasion during my daily life! I so appreciate the prompting!
Question #1: How often do I see my favorite photos?
Ah, I know a bit about this! Every 3 years we have arranged for a family photo shoot with a professional photographer – in different settings. And my wonderful daughter-in-law got the first ones framed and now we have 4 framed and on my entry hall wall! That spans 12 years of family growing from the toddler grandkids to their teenage years. So many times each week, I pass by them, stop and gaze a bit and thank the Lord for the blessings He has provided.
As Jenna reminded me, we can print some of our treasured photos so we can see them every single day. I do agree! And I am thinking I need to find some additional favs and print them for my downstairs rec room! How about you?
Question #2: How do I most enjoy looking at pictures?
Most of our photos in the last decades are residing online in digital form – so scrolling and tapping are involved. Organized? – so you can find what you want quickly? I will let each of us answer that question privately!
As Jenna points out, holding physical photos is a completely different thing. You pause, touch – they’re just so much more REAL than anything we could pull up on a screen. She says she has always been drawn to paper. I can relate.
I recently finished printing a LifeStory photobook for a dear 90-year-old friend. We worked on it for over a year – and the stories are so rich. The day it arrived in my mail from the printer, I was so busy I could hardly manage my routines. But trust me, when I saw that package on my porch, I ripped it open, plopped on the couch and slowly went through every single page! Top priority.
And yes, it happens to me at times when I am downstairs in front of the shelves where my digital and traditional photobooks are kept. No matter how busy my day or if I am in the middle of a chore, I am drawn like a miller moth to flame to grab an album, sit and thumb through it with the memories flooding over me so deliciously.
Question #3: Do my kids see themselves in our home?
Just as Jenna shared about her family, mine did not display family photos in my childhood home. They had photos – although not many (I grew up in the late 40’s & 50’s) – but they were in a dresser drawer in my mom’s bedroom. None of them made it to the walls or in frames on shelves or any albums we could look through.
Jenna shared she later became a child psychologist, and she started to see the reason why she felt envious of all the photos of her friends’ families that were on their walls. “Photos remind every member of the family that they are part of a unit and that they are important enough to showcase.”
Question #4: How do I want to remember this season of life?
Jenna reminds us that though some days may seem long, the months and years fly by quickly. And while we might feel like we won’t forget a second of it, we do — unless we have reminders. (Listen closely, you hear me shouting AMEN in the background?) She asks further: Do you keep a journal, do you snap some pictures? What are the types of moments you want to look back on?
I will add another – how many “moments” and special times do you think you have totally forgotten? I was shocked as I pulled out an older paper album of mine, opened it and saw I had made some beautiful pages with photos, but never added the journaling! Oh dear! Who are those people? What are we doing there? Some memories return, but not enough detail! Shocker to me!
Question #5: How do I want to be remembered?
She nailed it – would you like photos of you to show what you are like, not just how you look? In my experience, that is going to take some journaling to accomplish it. If you didn’t snap the pictures you needed at the time of the events that demonstrate your life – years ago – even more journaling.
Jenna gave some grace here but hit a big point I would underscore. I have helped many scrapbookers as they made tons of family albums – all too often, they only made an obvious “how fun” title and moved on lucky if even half of the photos identified who was in them, much less the story behind them. Jenna says “do you care more about how the pictures bring back memories of their laugh, their sense of humor, their gentle touch, their smile, their patience? How hard they worked as a parent, how much they loved you – while they probably were exhausted at times, too.”
That makes me want to go grab some of my older albums and start adding journaling to them. What great prompts she gave us. And yes, this is a much easier task if it is all digital.
Question #6: If something happened to me, would my family have access to the pictures I’ve taken over the past few years?
Jenna has words of wisdom for us here: “It is crucial that you not only keep backups of your pictures, but that someone is able to access them….[including] your kids….photo books, albums, and prints are tangible keepsakes that your family can have at their fingertips, even if technology gives them a hard time.”
OK, if you have been following me for any length of time, you KNOW what I am going to say. I have “horror” stories of what happens to people’s photos and keepsakes (physical or digital) after they pass from this earth.
It is why I jumped on board with the FOREVER tools that digitize, preserve and safeguard our memories, photos, videos and audios for our lifetime plus 100 years. It is why I am here for you – I am only a bit further down the road from you – but I am happy to share what I have learned.
I want my ancestral research, the family keepsakes I have inherited and the memories and stories of my life added to it all to NOT be a burden or an item my kids have to search for or wonder about. I want these legacy items easily accessible to them and my descendants.
Let me know if you want to know more or need help in that arena. I’m here to cheer you along!
