Hurray It's World Photography Day
Say CHEESE!!
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
Give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama, don't take my Kodachrome away-Paul Simon-Kodachrome (1973)
My Mom would pull the cardboard box of photos out from the closet. These were the discarded shots. Slightly blurred or candid memories of relatives/people I knew or had never met. Some holding cocktails or beers, others dressed for weddings, or laughing at the beach or a barbecue, were a glimpse into the past.
Family history was cemented and passed on. I would look at my grandparents' eyes and faces, looking for links to myself and my siblings, wondering what they had REALLY been like. My parents would fill in the blanks as best they could.
Stories were re-told—tears and laughter.
There was a leather satchel that held photos of my Dad’s time in World War II. I was fascinated by these pictures that showed a time that I only knew from movies and TV Shows like Combat. My Dad never spoke of his time in Europe and Egypt. Seeing him as a young man, smoking, smiling with his buddies, was like time travel to me. Today, I realise how much of a miracle it is that my family exists.
There was always a camera around. We all had them at one point or another. There were times I carried one around with me wherever I went. Capturing beauty and life, boredom and exhilaration, until the last shot was taken on the 24 or 36 exposure roll.
Sometimes you would even get an extra shot within the roll, and what a bonus that was. You developed an eye. You became an amateur photographer.
Today, everyone has a damn good camera in their pocket. Millions of photos are taken every day and stored on hard drives worldwide. Yes, we share them at times, but I truly miss that time of sharing stories around the fire or dining table or living room floor, yelling, “Oh my god, this was the night ….” such and such happened. We would argue and laugh, trying to get the facts straight.
Photography to me is all about my phone today. My Canon is somewhere in a box packed away, and the days of waiting for the film to be developed are gone. Selfies abound, and multiple moments are captured and deleted later when time permits. Instagram has become our photo-sharing experience. We have farmed out that face-to-face connection to an App.
I miss those days. The black and white and Kodachrome days.
But I keep snapping for the beauty, the art, and the memories.
You may be wondering: why do we celebrate World Photography Day on August 19? On this date in 1839, the French government purchased a patent for the Daguerreotype process. Louis Daguerre developed this groundbreaking photography process, which was later made available to the world free of charge via the patent.
Thanks, Louis!
Another fabulous post Paul! Thank you! I could only wish you had the film in the lost camera!
Love you Paul and happy Kodak and Fotomat Day❤️