Where do your family's images live?
If I were to ask you to show me a picture of your family, how would you do that? Most people take out their phones and show their favorite images that way. Back when I was in the film industry, I would be shown a wallet or crumpled up print taken out of a wallet.
We live in a digital world. We have computers, phones, ipads and other types of storage like the cloud, google drive, and google images that store our favorite and precious images like a file cabinet. When we want to see them, we just go to our device and take a look.
How many of you have lost your phone, or have had your computer crash? This recently happened to me. My back up computer, that I have had for many years, decided it was tired and did not want to work anymore. Thankfully, I did have most of the images and important documents stored on another hard drive, and I was able to get another back up drive of everything on the computer that crashed onto another external hard drive. So, now I have everything again-twice.
But, what if you did not have this? What if you did not back up your phone, or computer and you lost everything?
The only way I can relive the memories of my children's childhood is by looking at all their prints in their albums. The only way I can relive the memories of my parents and grandparents is by looking at all the prints I have stored in boxes.
That is my history; my children, my parents and my grandparents.
So, why does it matter where your family's images live?
Did you know that more photos are being taken now than ever before, but they live in phones, ipads, computers and the cloud? Did you know that they rarely move from those devices?
Did you know that this generation of people is THE most photographed generation of our time, but they could become what is known as 'THE LOST GENERATION?"
"Lost" because digital images that live on phones and other devices will become corrupt. Phones will get lost and all that was in them. Computers will crash and all that was in them. And, "Lost" because digital images that live in the cloud are not archival. Digital images will all become corrupt. They will not last. And, what will the new technology bring five years from now? Will usb drives and CD's even still exist? Who remembers floppy disks, or 8 track tapes?
When this generation wants to look back on their life, will they be able to see anything from it?
Not if all their images are living in a digital device.
Why is this important?
Because years from now when your children and family want to see a photo of themselves from the past, you might not have one. Years from now when your children want to see a photo of themselves when they were a baby, you won't be able to show them. And, years from now when your daughter or son is walking down the aisle to be married, you will not have any images of them from their past.
What happens to their history and legacy then?
At Songs of Life, we give you heirlooms, a tangible piece of your history that you can love in your home now and eventually pass down to future generations. We choose to help you create your legacy and preserve your history for your family.
The above image is part of my history. It tells a story. A great story.
This print was taken by a combat photographer at Iwo Jima the day before the US raised the flag and took over the island. The two men are my uncles, whom I never met. They look happy and had no idea that this day would be their last.
The next day, they were both killed in combat.
This print was given to their mother, my grandmother, and eventually passed down to me. Even though I never knew them, I feel like I did. Their story is etched in my mind and heart, and if I did not have this print, which is almost 80 years old, I would never had known. And, I never would have known if this story got lost on a phone, ipad or computer.
THIS IS WHY WE PRINT.
Your images deserve a place of honor in your home.
They deserve to be seen everyday, living on your walls, or living in an album so you can re live and revisit the moments that made the image happen.
And, if you would like our help with that, just let us know.
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