Memories and Moments

The other day as I was writing my blog,the one about my Dad,I realized for the first time just how few pictures I had of him and I together. Don't have many of Mom and I either. I thought about this because I have lots of pictures. I'm the self appointed keeper of the " archives ". I have pictures of Grand parents,Great Grandparents, and even one Great Great Great Grandparent ! I have a lot of just Dad but only two or three were we are in the same picture.

I think it is probably because he was usually the one taking the pictures. He had a box type camera with that big flash bulb attachment. You had to hold that camera pretty darn still to take a good shot. I can still remember that blinding flash going off and you could hear the crackle of the flash bulb. Right after the picture was taken Dad would remove that bulb and juggle it back and forth until it cooled off. Later on,he did get a Polaroid land camera. Now that was high tech stuff and only a man could handle that.

Naturally that was in the day when you had to take the film to the drug store to be developed. The store mailed it off or someone picked it up, I 'm not sure which,and you would return to the store in about three days to get your prints.

A lot of rolls of exposed film never made it to the store for developing. They wound up sitting on a shelf somewhere and forgotten. Sometimes they would be "discovered" much later and developed and sometimes not. In fact I still have undeveloped rolls of film. Had them for years now and for some reason don't want to throw them away. I'm sure the film is long past the point of being developed. What pictures might I find on them ? I'll never know.

Today everybody ,everywhere is taking pictures. You don't even need a camera just a phone. Who would have ever thought ? There are many pictures being lost as well. Never saved or deleted on purpose. Many are lost due to computer problems. It would be interesting to know how many actual prints are being made anymore. I have had some done at the drug store but you no longer get a negative. Some kids today have probably never seen a film negative.

Are Hollywood movies still shot using real film ? I hadn't thought about that. Or will today's blockbusters be stored as digital files ? Interesting. I print my favorite shots. They go into frames and displayed. Those are the pictures that I find particularly interesting but what about you ? You may like other ones that I don't print. I have the digital file,of course,but will future generations be able to easily view them ? Think of it this way, how easy would it be for you to play a vinyl 331/3 rpm record right now ? You can't leave your house. Can you play an 8 track tape ?

All this thinking about pictures makes we want to come up with a plan. A plan to print and label all my pictures. The cost of this is going to be prohibitive,hence I need a plan. Maybe form a foundation. A foundation for the preservation of Bens' pictures. The FFPOBP. That's a little awkward,have to work on that. In the meantime I will continue to print those special memories and moments. A fraction of time captured forever. To those that were there when the picture was taken it is a memory. To those that were not, it is a journey of imagination and speculation.

footnote: the last roll of " Kodachrome " 35mm film was manufactured over a year ago.