Why Photography Matters

This is a very sensitive time for the world, from the news of the Coronavirus outbreak to the shutting down of most public buildings and businesses, people are panicked and learning to deal with the situation as it evolves at the same time that they (we) have to stay at home in quarantine.  

Being in quarantine is a change of plans that we probably won’t like because it limits our mobility to the confines of our home. But we can see it as an opportunity to dedicate time to things we’ve often wanted to do but couldn’t because we didn’t have enough time. In my case, I’m taking it as the opportunity to organize some things at home and learning new photography skills for my business.

Working on it, I’ve spent hours checking some folders on my computer looking for old and recent photos, seeing every single photo again. All of these have made me feel some emotions like happiness, joy, pride, nostalgia, melancholy, satisfaction… but, the most important, it also made me feel so grateful. Grateful to be part of all those moments. Grateful because, somehow, I’ve been part of someone else life (relatives, friends, or clients). Thinking about why photography matters, I found some reasons that I would like to share with you:

·      Photographs are our personal story, a timeline of our lives filled with faces and places that we love. They are our stories, which we can share with others. The hundreds of images come together to form a narrative of our lives. That is one of the reasons why I think it is so important to take photos frequently.

 ·      Photographs matter because they freeze moments of our lives which pass unremarkably, and which seem to have little importance to us at the time. The significance, however, may be for others who search for the person we once were or the places we once knew or for us in the future when we appreciate them as an opportunity to travel to our past and relive those moments again.

 ·      Photography is a powerful language which speaks to our emotions. It allows us to tell our story and show others our framing of the world around us.

 ·      Photographs are another easy way to record little moments that are precious but easily forgotten. If I didn't have photos to remind me, I might get fuzzy on the details of the distant afternoon when, after months of begging, my daughter got her hair dyed blue (then red, then pink and blonde…haha)

 Being a middle-aged woman, a mother of two teenagers and also a teacher, who most of her students are adults now, I’m in a moment in my life where I can appreciate how quickly time passes, how quickly children grow up and how important it is to preserve memories of different moments of our life and memories from the people who are part of it. Now I understand that capturing a moment in time isn't just about securing a memory—it can help me appreciate my life more every day.

I know,  there are people who doesn’t like to be photographed (like our teenagers kids (haha) or sometimes adults who avoid photographs due to insecurities or anxiety), but when they recognize that life is something that is constantly changing and that preserving memories of our life is something valuable, every moment and every photograph holds a different meaning. So today I’d like to encourage you to take that photo!

Every single moment matters, every milestone or celebration deserves it. Take a picture of your family on these days of quarantine, take a picture of your kids learning from home on these days of staying at home, take pictures of your little baby and take as much photos as you can of your grandparents and parents. This moment is going to pass. In the future, we are going to tell stories about this historical moment to our kids or grand kids, so PRESERVE MEMORIES! Draw the illustration of your story today, for the sake of tomorrow.