I remember opening a packaged roll of film and putting it into my camera – and yes, pulling the tab of the film roll across the back of the camera to latch into the roller, then closing the back plate of the camera and scrolling to show “#1” in the viewer (or was it #24, not sure). Then after 24 pictures were taken (carefully chosen and planned but not able to be viewed after clicking), scrolling to the end of the film and taking it to the drug store to be processed.
Then came the day I picked up the envelope…ripping it open before I was out of the store. Anxiously flipping through the printed photos, sad about the blurred ones and thrilled at the good ones (I had forgotten the specific ones snapped so it was fun re-discovering them). All of that to get about 20 good photos – over a span of weeks or months. And I am seeing them “after” a few days, weeks or months for the FIRST time! No chance for “do-overs”.
Contrast today – we not only take photos on our digital cameras, but most often on our phones and ipads. Multiple photos – snap a shot, check to see if it is good, take another just in case, even do a “burst” of several snaps in a row, especially if you have a DSLR. Hundreds of photos per week—even sometimes during a single gkid game or vacation day with family.
Around mid-1997, digital photography was taking off. The estimate for 2020 was that people would take 1.4 trillion photos. Wow!
“Try wrapping your head around these statistics. Approximately 3.5 trillion photos have been taken since Daguerre [inventor of the daguerreotype] captured Boulevard du Temple 174 years ago. The global photo count is rising swiftly due to the accessibility of digital cameras and camera phones. Today, more pictures are taken every two minutes than were taken throughout the 1800s. It is estimated that ten percent of all photos ever taken were taken in the last twelve months. Approximately 140 billion photos have been uploaded to Facebook; that’s 10,000 times the number of photos in the Library of Congress. Unbelievable!” article by Amy Hobbs at Fstoppers.com
OK – my immediate concerns: where are those photos taken in the last twelve months??? And where are those 140 billion uploaded to Facebook??? And who captured the stories to go with them???
I know there are a few of you that had the same response to those questions I did – feels like most of my photos ended up in my online dumping ground program, on camera and sim cards long ago wiped clean or lost, drifting in never-neverland between the new and old computers, floating in the ether…..aaarrrggghhh! And the stories ? No way.
While I have been scrapbooking since I was a teenager (ok, in the 60’s), the peak of physical albums (or scrapbooking industry) was in 2004 at 2.5 billion dollars. But over the next few years, big drops occurred until 2013 with 1.5 billion.
Speaking of 2013, here is a quote from Tim Clark’s article The Vanishing Art of the Family Photo Album written in 2013. He quoted Erik Kessels, a Dutch curator and editor:
“We used to be the designers of our photo memories, not just someone who makes a slideshow on a computer. We don’t even have them in albums anymore. The function of a photograph has shifted completely.”
“It’s extraordinary to think that photo albums have only been in existence for roughly one hundred years, and now they are virtually dead.”
And there we have it – not only digital photos but videos and audios can be added to this burgeoning number of 1.4 trillion photos in 2020. All resulting in a strange dichotomy: a huge increase in number of photos + videos + audios but also a huge decrease in the number of printed photos and photo albums created. And without the album, I suspect the stories accompanying the photos are not preserved either.
His estimation that photo albums are “virtually dead” stopped me in my tracks – “not in MY house” ran through my mind. But then, all those albums waiting to be finished jumped into my thoughts – ugh, I need to get busy.
But let me punctuate this with a real story, poignant and pointed at all of us! If you are sure you will never do a photo album, let me alert you that this is about audio.
When BBC correspondent Dan Johnson posted on Twitter shortly before Christmas that he had finished editing a project capturing the voice of his late father Graeme, he was surprised by the reaction. It made him consider the importance of preserving the memories of loved ones.
Dan’s words: Through the dark days of December, my dad was a constant companion. He spoke to me almost every day while I limited my social life to protect my Christmas plans. I couldn’t speak to him, though. He’d died four years earlier…..
I appreciate we’re really fortunate to have this. I know so many others do not, and I’m sorry. I hope photos, videos and stories can help keep memories fresh and flowing. Death has snatched suddenly from so many families, without even the chance to say goodbye. But if you have the opportunity, make the most of it – get something recorded. It doesn’t matter what you talk about. The reflections and insights are powerful but really, it’s much simpler than that.
I’ll never hear my dad as an old man, the tales he would have told his grandsons, the new interests he’d have immersed himself in. But he left me his snorting, sniggering laughter, the traces of his Hull accent still stretching out his words, and his friendly voice preserved in all its rich, gentle warmth.
I promise you will enjoy the full article – HERE
And yes, he added photos and his words to his dad’s audio story (made it so much richer) and I loved his music focus since it covered my era as well. But the blessing it is to his son and grandchildren – and think of his great-grandchildren ! Wouldn’t you love to have such a recording of your great-grandfather or great-grandmother?
So have I piqued your interest? – or maybe stirred up a bit of guilt? Any ambition to take the photos, audios, videos you have and secure their future in a meaningful way? Then click HERE to be taken to the HEART section of my website – scroll all the way down to this section:
….the course, when ready for consumption, will focus on “Curating Photos, Videos, Documents & Stories for Generations to Come” — teaching you to use the system to identify your top treasures & organize them so that they easily transfer to your kids, grandkids and more for enjoyment in coming years. The system guarantees the saving for 100 years. Put your name on the WaitList & you will be notified when the course is ready! …start looking for those treasures you want to preserve.
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