silent faces

 I'm a man that just loves photographs. Old photographs and new. The old cliché is that pictures are worth a thousand words. I would say they are War and Peace to me! Each picture speaks volumes to me and I can become lost in them. The ones I have taken, or was present when it was taken instantly transport me to that place and time. Visual aids are what I would call them, just like in school, they aid in memory. The older ones I either hear the story that was told to me when I received that photo, or create a story of my own. It is not just pictures of people but of places as well. The places are far more difficult to place in the context of time and places are often mistaken. The walls of my home are covered with the pictures of my family, ancestors and descendants!
 There are certain photographs that capture me. Those pictures are scattered about and I stumble into them. That's the way I describe that, it is an accidental occurrence. A simple glance and I am captured, not always, but sometimes. There are other pictures that do not have that quality and I have no explanation for that. I'm thinking it must be the same quality that causes people to purchase works of art. Why someone would pay millions for an abstract piece of art is a mystery to me but surely that art must speak to them. Perhaps they get lost in that, I just don't know. I've heard about the smile of the Mona Lisa for years but I don't see that attraction. I understand there are classes in art appreciation but I don't believe that can be taught. I took a music appreciation class many years ago and didn't learn a thing. I liked the same music before as after. I'm thinking art, of any kind, would be the same way. I would not be convinced that Pollock or Picasso were great artists. I know, I know, educated people believe that they are, millions are spent on there " art " but it has zero appeal to me. To me attempting to teach someone to appreciate that would be like teaching someone to love, it can't be done. It is all an emotional thing. That's what my pictures capture, emotion, and I've been told art is the same way. The big difference is my pictures are personal and art created by another is not. I require a personal attachment, a personal emotion before I am captured. That's not to say I don't admire a fine painting of landscapes and such, I certainly do. I love the works of Norman Rockwell, who doesn't, and that is because of a personal attachment to those illustrations. Rockwell had that ability and there are others similar to him, just not as famous. I do have a penchant for pictures that are obvious in what they depict. Emotions should be stirred, not shaken.
 There is a sad side to all of this. Pictures with silent faces. That is what happens when the last person with an emotional attachment to the photograph is gone. Following that, all that is left is curiosity. That photograph is dependent upon that emotion alone. If no one takes an interest, it is gone, discarded as a fragment of the past. A past that is now lost forever. That thought saddens me. I have, in my possession, photographs like that. Pictures of faces without a name. And I have a collection of pictures, some with a name, that were wartime buddies of my Dad. I hate to think of them being lost to time. Those pictures speak to me, asking to be saved, and I am compelled to comply. I just don't know what to do.
 Well this posting took a turn to the melancholy. I guess that is the mood I woke up to. It's alright you don't have to be all upbeat and positive every second of the day. I believe in a balanced emotional state. Part of the problem we are seeing today stems from that I believe. We are trying to be happy all the time! Then reality comes along and people get upset. You have to learn to enjoy " life " and accept the components of living. They aren't always fun but necessary to the balance. Take some time, look at a picture and write a book. The best stories are the ones relived. Give a voice to the past. Give a voice to those silent faces. Give them life.