My Why
A lot of photographers, including myself, will preach about how much they love photography because they love having the ability to express their creative and artistic nature by capturing real-life moments and turning them into precious, beautiful art. And while this is absolutely true, today I was stricken with emotions and, while I knew this particular idea behind creating portraits existed, I never really felt the deep, true meaning behind the word "keepsake".
I Went Through My Own Keepsake Box
My mother has always taken great care in keeping precious things that myself and my three other siblings made, did and experienced in our lives. We each have our own personalized keepsake box that is absolutely full of our childhood.
I don't mean tiny little shoeboxes with a couple of photos and notes that she stashed away here and there. I mean, massive, carefully organized bins full of photos, dance costumes, trophies and other accomplishments and memories that we each experienced in our own unique childhoods.
These boxes are amazing. They not only show how our personalities developed and how utterly adorable we were as children, but it really brought to light the beauty of being able to tangibly hold, smell and see these memories. My own daughter tried on a pair tiny tap shoes that I once wore at a recital some 25 or so years ago. My other daughter excitedly put on one of my dance costumes, and showed me just how tiny I once was (and my own mother nearly burst into tears over the idea that her grand-daughter was now prancing about the living room in her daughter's old dance clothes).
It was pure nostalgia. The smells that wafted up from the box spoke of age; that kind of smell that brings about the memories. It's an "old" smell (and I was slightly taken aback that MY things now smelled "old" - because I don't feel THAT old... most days), but it was a beautiful evening of seeing not only the things that were once mine when I was a child, but admiring the care and really seeing the LOVE that my mother had for us.
I Know She Did It For Herself, But Perhaps Didn't Realize How Much It Would Mean To Us
We often go about storing these precious memories as a way for our own selves, as parents, to hold onto those moments to one day go back and reflect on. My youngest brother just recently moved out of my parents' home. My parents are officially empty-nesters. But the memories of us as infants, and then toddlers, and then children still live on. Perhaps within these boxes most of the time, just outside our reach. As life carries on outside of them, inside are these precious treasures that tell a story about the person outside the box, living life. The story of how that person became them.
Amidst all of my funny little drawings, journals, toys and outfits I stumbled across a baby book. You know, the ones that are baby journals where you can write down your baby's progress as they grow, add photos, and so on.
My mother had forgotten about this book that she had done for me. I'm sure like most, it remained mostly unfinished. But what I found inside were incredible notes, hand-written by my mother, about me as a baby. It contained photos, like the one shown above (me as a newborn!) where we marvelled over how much my own children looked like me.
It Dawned On Me Why I Do What I Do
When I think about creating portraits of newborns, I think about these exact moments years down the road for someone else who stumbles upon their keepsakes. Twenty or thirty years later, I imagine a woman or man going through their baby things and stumbling upon their baby book, or a framed photo of themselves as a baby.
The beauty of it is how newborn photography has developed over the years, and while back in the day (as far as I'm aware) newborn photography is certainly not the same as it was back then, it has certainly developed into beautiful art. But the thought process is still the same: to document that moment in life when the person, now holding the story of themselves in their hands, now marvels over a part of their history.
It Becomes Less About Parents Wanting To Savour These Moments, And More About These Children One Day Treasuring Their Past
My mother LOVES photos. And since the dawn of the computer, and hard-drives, and the Cloud people have become overly trusting and dependant on the digital world. We want digital everything, for the convenience. But let me use an example as to how inconvenient it can really be.
These keepboxes are stored at my parents' house, under the stairs amidst the other items not regularly used day to day. But they are there. Ready to be accessed at ANY time. I literally asked, "Can I go through my keepsake box?" and had it upstairs within minutes. Tangible items to turn over in my hands that brought about all sorts of emotions and memories flooding my brain. Things I didn't even remember until I held a photo or a note or an item in my hand.
In The Same Storage Room Are Two Computers
These computers are old. Whether they turn on or not, I'm not sure. They are outdated. They are covered in dust. And they are there simply because they store thousands of photos.
That can't be seen.
No Access.
Two boxes of electronics that may or may not still store the digital information that makes up the years of thousands upon thousands of pictures. Just beyond reach, but simply not accessible because 1) the technology is outdated and 2) we don't remember the passwords and 3) turning them on might even result in the computer actually crashing (they're that old) and destroying those memories. Memories that can't even be relived, for the most part.
Perhaps my mother keeps the computers to ease her own heart. Even though we can't access them, they're somehow still there inside that little box of plastic, metal and wires.
I Encourage You To Consider The Fate Of Your Memories
We all mean well when it comes to the management of our memories in digital form. And while the immediate convenience of digital photos is undeniable, I encourage you to think about this: how convenient will they be years down the road. When technology changes, when passwords lock you out, when you want to indulge in an evening of nostalgia and have memories to hold within the palms of your hand.
This Is Why I Don't Offer A Purely Digital Service
I am a sucker for keepsakes. Perhaps instilled in me by my mother who clearly has a knack for storing and treasuring my old things.
When my clients order product, I constantly think of these moments and how much they're going to enjoy these photos down the road. And not just the parents, but their KIDS, and their GRANDKIDS, and so on.
I know, for a fact, that this keepsake box will be one of my most treasured things I will ever own. Not because it tells the story about me, but the story of my parents. My mother's hand-written notes, and photos of my dad. The memories tied to my little tap shoes, where I can think back to hearing the "clack clack clack" as I held my Daddy's hand walking down the street to my recital.
Mom, Thank You.
While she knew it at the time or not, my mother has created something beautiful for myself. And even further down the line, when my kids have their own kids, and we take that trip down memory lane, I will be able to show them my history. What was my reality when I was little, and show them a little bit about where they came from and what their ancestors were like, and so on.
And it's encouraged me to do the same. I have keepsake boxes of my kids, but it's reminded me to keep up with keeping those little treasures. And to print those images. Because there will come a time where, one day, there will be an old computer sitting in the storage room.
Whether we will have access to what's on it or not... well, you know the saying. History has a way of repeating itself. Unless we do something different.
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