A Pen And Paper (And Prints) Kind Of Girl
I've always been drawn to both paper and pen. As a kid I had multiple (MULTIPLE!) diaries, some for poetry, some for journaling about my days, some for song lyrics, some for just making lists. I took photos – which back then got printed! And I made little "newspapers" for my parents (as seen above).As a teenager I even had journals to safekeep text messages I got from boys – and what I had texted them back. Back then my Nokia 5100 could only fit 20 text messages at a time – can barely imagine the horror, right?Then something happened. Everything started living on smarter and smarter phones, computers, the Internet. I didn't journal anymore, I didn't write down important text messages anymore, I didn't get pictures printed.As a photographer, my focus has (not shockingly) been on photographs. I've started getting more pictures printed, even if just as simple 4x6 prints of iPhone photos – you guys may remember that I printed hundreds of pictures from 2008-2011 as well as 2016, and am still working on 2012-2015.But something was still missing – I just wasn't sure what it was.About a month ago I got this feeling that maybe journaling every day about what my plans were for work would help me stay on top of things. But I found myself writing less and less about work related thoughts and instead incorporating more life, more random thoughts – and recently even a Ropa Vieja recipe!And just today I realized why I've finally found my way back to journaling. Without these thoughts scribbled down somewhere, will my kids and grandkids understand the meaning of the photographs I've printed? Will they know who the people in them are? Will they know what went on in my head?Do you guys remember reading through letters your parents or grandparents sent each other? Or hiding out in a closet with your best friend, reading through her mom's journals from when she was a teenager?Because we think digital files are just so easy and convenient, the kiddos that are walking the face of the earth now are not going to have these types of tangible memories.No letters, no journals, no photographs. Unless we make sure that they exist.(This made me realize not even my blog posts will be available for future generations to see, unless someone keeps paying for my website when I'm gone. So I will have to print out a book of these ramblings, even if it's just a couple for myself.)So let's make sure that today's kiddos will have something to safekeep for tomorrow.
Be inspired by what documentary family photographers do with their own photos.Read on about why I think offering digitals only packages is a disservice to families.