This is my paper on the value of photographs from last quarter...
Carrie Latet said, “a photograph is memory in the raw.” This is such a true statement. Photographs are reminders of who we are and where we've been. I can walk into a friend's house, find their photo album or peruse the photos displayed on their walls, and get to know them. Their families and friends are exhibited. I can see where they've been on vacations, who they spend the most time with, their smiles, memories, and essentially their life. Similarly, I can peruse a friend's Facebook page. I can see how much value they put in photographs by what they have uploaded to their account, how many photographs they have put on the internet, and what these photographs depict. Once again, their lives are displayed. I can explore each moment that has been captured and saved to this database. I can share their memories with them. But is there more appreciation for the printed photographs or the digital ones? There is a definite difference in the value of a printed image versus a digital one. By the same token, there often seems to be a greater value for older printed photographs.
There is a significant difference between printed and digital photos. One is physical, you can touch it and bend it and hold it in your hands. The other you can still visually interact with, but not physically. However, they still have similarities. Both are visual representations. They both capture a moment and preserve it forever. Whether high quality or poor quality, both are a memory or documentation of a moment, object, person, feeling, etc.
Another difference between digital and printed photographs is their value. Overall, printed
images appear to have more value than digital photographs. This is not to say the content of one is valued or appreciated more than the other, but that the image itself seems to have more value when it is printed rather than pixels on a screen. Part of this comes from the physicality of the photograph. When you hold it in your own two hands it is more vulnerable. It can be smudged by greasy fingers, ripped in half by a small child, or crumpled into a ball and tossed in a wastebasket. Part of the value comes from the fact that it is destructible. Photographs are important for preserving memories. This makes preserving the photograph vital, because the memories and moments linked to it are important.
The memories and moments connected with at digital image are just as special and worth preserving; they simply possess more durability. Although it is quite simple to hit the “delete” button on the computer and exterminate an image, the photo still seems less fragile. It can't be crinkled or cut or thrown away in the same physical way a printed image can. This causes one to more highly value the printed image over the digital image.
An excellent example of this concept can be found in family photo albums. There is something thrilling, interesting, and special about pulling out a photo album and looking back at the documented years. Smells, sounds, tastes, laughs, smiles, and events come flying back as the memories pour from the pages. Carefully examining the snapshots and then turning the page to see what the next page holds is exciting. There is a bit of anticipation right before the page is turned as you can't quite remember what comes next. Or, if it is a photo album that has been virtually memorized, there's a moment of excitement as you remember the favorite photo that is ahead.
I remember my mom telling me about when she was a little girl. She adored her grandma, who we call “Memaw,” and spent hours at Memaw's house after school and during the balmy summer months. My mother has many fond memories from these days. She loved spending time with my great-grandmother and playing outdoors in the spacious backyard. Yet, one of her favorite activities wasn't playing with dolls, painting ceramic figurines (one of my great-grandma's favorite hobbies), or
adventuring in the “great outdoors.” Some of her most enjoyable afternoons were spent browsing through Memaw's many photo albums. The albums were kept on the large, wooden coffee table in the middle of the sitting room. My mom would sit on one of the big comfy chairs, pull the large album out, and spend a few blissful hours looking through them. “I loved looking through those photos!” my mom told me. “And I didn't just look through them once or twice. That was one of my favorite pastimes. I'd look through them often. It was a connection to her, and I loved seeing her life's story right there, before my eyes. It was an adventure I got to take with her through her memories.” The pictures depicted Memaw's life. They told her story, held her memories. My mother could travel back in time and see the places my great-grandmother had visited, the people she had known, and the moments she had experienced. Her travels, interests, smiles, friends, and family were remembered in those pages. My mother could share those moments with Memaw without ever leaving the sitting room.
A similar tale can be told of my own family and siblings. My mom generally keeps the family photo albums in the top of her closet. Still, whenever she gets them out there is an abundance of excitement and chatter. Most of my five siblings (the six-year-old isn't too terribly interested yet) grab an album and being to eagerly flip through them. We all laugh at the funny pictures (of which there are many!), running around showing each other the old photos and giggling at our old hair cuts or clothes. Many times “I can't believe I wore that!” or “Oh my gosh! I look SO funny!” can be heard. Sometimes we can't remember the places the photos were taken so we'll dash about, find our mom, and ask her to recount whatever tale accompanies the picture. For me, flipping through the pictures from my childhood is fun and interesting. I get to see things I don't remember, like living in Russia or vacations to Turkey or Hungary.
All these memories are special, and the physical photograph makes them more tangible. When asked what they would grab to save in case of a fire, many people's response is, “the photo albums!” I
know I personally have many of my old(er) photos (the ones I don't have on the computer) stored in a
firesafe box, just incase. Photos are incredibly important to me and even all the digital ones are backed up at least twice. Despite the thousands of photographs I have on my computer, when I came to college I still printed many of them out. I could have easily browsed through my digital albums when I missed someone or wanted to revisit a past memory. Yet the physicality of the photo made it more important. I printed about two hundred photographs and carefully put them in a photo album. Each photo represents a person, place, or memory. There are moments I fear I would forget if I didn't see them. Many more photos are plastered to my walls, all great memories and moments to be reminded of daily.
Not only are printed photos valued, but many people highly value old photographs. A huge factor in this is that old photographs are one of a kind. Due to the fact that there are not digital copies (unless one has scanned the photo), the value of the image increases. If something happens to the photograph, it vanishes (an exception being if one has the negatives or scanned copies). This fragility automatically gives value to the printed photo.
Another important aspect to be taken into consideration is the historical significance of older photographs. When one holds an old photograph in their hands it feels as though they are holding an old artifact. Looking at an old picture feels like glimpsing a bit of history. The frayed edges, crinkles, and tears, add to the unique effect. The photo encompasses a feeling of traveling back in time to a moment far past, but a moment not forgotten. The memory lives on, captured forever in that black and white or sepia photo, the memory preserved.
My cousin in Louisiana loves these old photographs. She has searched far and wide and has quite a collection of old images of our family. That part of the family has lived in Louisiana for many generations. She managed to find a picture of my great-grandma's house from the late 1800's. My great-grandmother (we called her Annie) was born in 1915 and I have visited her house many times, though she has now passed away. It's unbelievable to see such an old image of a place I've been countless times through my life. Through the photos my cousin has found she has been able to learn
about our family's history. So many stories are told in the images. Collecting them, she has been able to piece together this tale. It's thrilling and fascinating for her. And she isn't the only one to benefit from her passion. The rest of the family, as well as future generations, will be able to see these old pictures. They will explore the past, while continuing to add to the collection, furthering the documentation of our family's history.
Similarly, my sister loves old pictures. For her though, it isn't so much the subject of the photo as the photograph itself. I talked to her about it, wondering what attracted her so strongly to these old black and white or sepia tone images that she has hung about her room. “They're just so cool!” she said. “I mean they're so old. They're like antiques. It's a picture no one else has from years and years ago. And it's so fun to see the old clothing or hair styles. They're so different from now. I like looking at them and seeing how styles have changed, or how we are changing back to those old styles. The old buildings look cool too. It's neat to just see how things were a long time ago, and how they've changed. I love it. And the fact that the pictures themselves are so old is awesome too! I like thinking of how someone fifty or a hundred years ago took this picture. It's like history.” Every time we go to a yard sale or resale shop my sister looks for old photos to add to her collection. Her high value of the old pictures is their history. By looking at them and saving them, she's preserving a bit of the past. She gets to experience moments that she would never get to be part of any other way. It's okay that she doesn't know the people or recognize the places, the age of the photographs still gives them a quality and value that can't be priced by money.
Photographs are so important. The often quoted statement, “a picture's worth a thousand words,” holds true. Photos take us back to a place or time and remind us of a moment. They capture
that second forever. People are visual, and photographs make memories possible to remember in a way that words cannot. Photographs are everywhere. They appear on billboards to advertise, they fill magazines, they sit in albums in our homes waiting to be admired and examined. We can find photos
all over the internet, documenting our every moment on our Facebook pages, or plastered to our walls. We don't just want photos, we need them. They're essential for preserving our memories. They make us smile, laugh, or cry. They evoke emotions and tell tales.
For these reasons, photos are greatly valued. No matter their medium, whether printed or digital, they are still cherished. Though all photos are highly regarded because of the memories they preserve, printed photographs hold rich value and appreciation. There is something significant about a tangible object. Being able to flip through the pages of a photo album is better than scrolling through images on a computer screen. The excitement of turning the page, holding up the picture and closely examining it, or being able to put it in a frame on a desk to periodically glance back at while at work or around the house holds something special for us.
Old pictures are extremely valuable as well. They are artifacts, containing bits of history for the viewers. Sometimes it is an individual's personal history, which is fascinating to explore. Being able to see one's ancestors – their friends and families, the places they visited or lived, and the moments they experienced – is priceless. These photos hold a connection to the past. They allow us to visit people who are long gone, people we could never see any other way. Even pictures of people or places we do not know are still interesting. There is history and adventure in those pictures, they hold people to meet and places to visit. The photos pull the viewers back in time and show them a different world.
Printed or old photographs have a certain special quality about them, but all photos are valuable and cherished. The expressions, faces, buildings, giggles, vacations, moments, and memories they preserve are more precious than gold. They exist everywhere, constantly reminding us of the people, places, and moments we love and want to remember forever.
