I Tell You This Story
When I was in my later teen years, I was in a long-term relationship. One of the stand-out impressions this person had of me and often reflected on years later when we were still friends and would talk, was the image of me sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by photographs. During those years, I would take film photos all the time and after printing, would shuffle through them to figure out how and where they should be displayed or placed in an album. I still have some of those albums today and can imagine how that person once saw me. Now, however, that image is less in print because of the digital nature we live in.
Having caught up on client photo shoots recently, I have been intentional about editing my personal images. Years of family photos sit waiting for me and at times, I wonder if I’ll ever finish. Then I wonder, if I don’t do something with these photos, then what is the point? Why take photographs to let them sit unseen, never printed? There is little to no point at all. And so I edit and I print. I pulled out a set of photos that have been sitting in my desk, and I quickly noticed that some didn’t look so great while others did. If you’ve ever noticed, it’s usually a case of weird colors and subpar paper. What the heck? I thought, how did this happen? It was then that I realized I had printed some through Costco and while I’ve had good luck in the past, these were the worst I’ve ever received. After years of photography, I’ve become a little picky about print quality. If you’re going through the trouble of having professional photos taken or picking your own photos to print, you might as well get good quality to match the photographer’s work. The photos I had just picked to print instantly went to a proper photo lab and not Costco. Lesson learned.
Since I’ve been caught up on work and have a week-long break, I’ve dedicated time to hanging prints and art I’ve been collecting. Two large black and white photographs sent to me after my grandfather’s passing were hung today. Photos of my husband and I were framed. Still life art that I’ve been coveting have been ordered. And plans for much more are in the works. It’s exciting to finally feel like you’ve found the perfect spot for something. To nurture this long ago affection for printed photographs left me feeling happy and fulfilled all day. Why do we wait to do things we enjoy?
If you’ve read about the PNW Photo Collective photography group, the writing and photo prompts have kept me motivated. You can sign up here and I hope you do, it’s been amazing to connect with others who enjoy creating for the fun of it. The photos are for the prompt something nostalgic and the writing is inspired by the prompt Nurture. You can jump in anytime and simply enjoy the process of being mindfully in the present through words and images, a rounded experience of storytelling.