To Remember.

Why do we take pictures?

Why do we, as humans, find it important to have printed images of moments in time? I’ll spare you the long, philosophical answer and just tell you one of the reasons why I take pictures. I take pictures to remember. I take pictures of lists to remember what to buy at the store. I take pictures to remember that one time my friend had cilantro stuck in her teeth while she was talking (okay, so maybe it was me who had cilantro stuck in her teeth…). I take pictures to remember what my garden looked like when we planted the first seeds. And I take pictures to remember my grandmama and her love for taking pictures.

Grandmama Tillie always carried around with her a heavily used Kleenex and a disposable Kodak camera. I think she was on to something – after all, you never know when you’re going to need to wipe your nose because something so special has brought you to snotty tears, and you want to snap a picture of whatever is happening so that you can remember how you felt that day. After she passed in 2009, we found dozens of disposable cameras with undeveloped film that she had used over the years. What a treasure it was to print and look through the world through her eyes – the way she wanted to remember it.  

I take pictures to remember her, and I take pictures so that you can remember, too.