Taking Pictures To Document Your Family History
Is there anything more important than family?
When you capture images of special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, graduations and anniversaries by taking pictures, you are documenting the legacy of your family. These are moments with stories that may be talked about for generations to come, but the images that accompany those stories are sure to keep the memories fresh.
“Family pictures are the most precious,” believes photographer, Mary McCartney on TheGuardian.com, “I have a set of prints I carry around in my wallet of my kids, my husband and my parents. I look at those rather than writing a diary: they’re very evocative and textural and emotional, and take you back to specific moments. I change them every so often, after they get worn out.”
I recently had a conversation with a colleague about his family and how an important part of his family history was captured by photos. His grandmother passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 94. He explained that he although he was happy to have had such a strong relationship with her for so many years, he was still heartbroken because of the loss of such a beloved family member.
He went on to explain the joy he was able to experience because of the time his grandmother was given to meet and get to know his infant daughter. The “overlap of life”, as he called it, is something he will always cherish. At the time of his grandmother’s passing, his daughter was barely a year old. This short “overlap”, however, will never be forgotten.
“I have about three or four pictures of my grandmother and my now three year-old daughter together,” he revealed, “I don’t think that I have any photos that are more important to me than these. My grandmother’s memory was fading in her final years. But every time I visited her, she would bring up my daughter, expressing how beautiful she was. My daughter now views those pictures and knows that she is looking at ‘Great-Gran’ in those pics. I look forward to many years of telling her stories about the relative she barely knew, but loved her so much.”
I couldn’t help but ask how and where those Grandmother/Daughter photos are displayed. My colleague informed me that they are framed and on display at his parents’ home – in the very bedroom that his grandmother used to call hers. He went on to express how he would like to have copies of those photos for himself (half-jokingly accusing his parents of swiping his favourite pictures).
It’s hard to recall a time when I’ve been happier to help a friend. The photo and document scanning services offered by PhotoWise ensured that these cherished photos were scanned at high resolutions and preserved in ways that he and his daughter will enjoy for the rest of his life. My personal recommendation was to create a photobook that included pictures of both his grandmother and daughter and, of course, photos of the two “overlapping” relatives together.
Today, this custom family photobook is my colleague’s favourite personal possession!
I invite you to contact me today to find out how we can help sort, organize and digitize your family photos to document your family history!
