Photographs

It was strange. I was just staring at the photos hanging on my wall, thinking about which wedding photo I would like to have passed down to my future children and their children and so on. Wondering which photo alone fully captures the essence of that day.

And then it happened. It suddenly struck me that my children would probably not feel the same sentiments I have to my truckload of photos. Photos with my friends, photos from travels, etc. They might still keep my wedding photos for keepsake and of course, family photos. But what would my picture of, say, the Great Wall of China mean to them? Probably not much, definitely not as much as when I look at the photo myself.

Then I wondered what they would do with my digital truckload of photos when I die. What is the point of keeping photos if no one looks at them, when the photographer herself is no longer around to enjoy them herself?

To me, photos are attempts to capture moments and memories. A third party looking at a photo will never understand it as fully as the person who was taking the photo. Memories can never fully be shared with someone who wasn’t there. And just as memories disappear along with a person who has passed on, the photos will also no longer serve its purpose, unless there were others present in that captured moment.

Instead, I hope that through my photos, they see the world as I saw it. That they are inspired to live the life they want. That the smiles of my friends, whom they may not have met, show them the blessings of good friendships. And that they too will be encouraged to build their own memories, and in tow, their own truckload of photos.