I'm all for digital. It's a fantastic medium for sharing images easily. We all know that. I'm the Queen of Photosharing. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, website…you get the idea.
However, I will never lose my love for printed photos. I think there's something much more personal about them, about sharing them or making them into an album. Maybe it's my age? Perhaps it's because I love history and so much of what we know of modern history is based upon the evidence we find in photographs. Maybe it's just a nostalgia thing, having never quite lost the excitement of opening a newly processed set of photos and poring over them with glee. Certainly, I love to see reminders of my loved ones and moments when I go to make myself a cup of tea and see the mini prints and polaroids stuck to my fridge – never fails to make me smile.
I am blessed to have the printed photos taken by my Dad which document me coming to existence, right the way back to when my poor Mum was heavily pregnant with me. Even better than that, I have my parent's wedding album and prints of my family going back to the early 1900s. It seems I am not the only hoarder in my extended family.
Personally, when I hold a photo in my hands, it just feels like I am closer to the moment that was captured. I really do "feel" it. Photos of me or of family and friends take me back to the moment and trigger a response in me – I can recall my surroundings and the associated memories that come from that. That emotional response makes me feel GOOD. It makes me feel happy and joyful. Sometimes it makes me feel sad, if I am looking at photos of people that I have lost, but then that turns to something better because memories of those people come flooding back.
I also like to think about who was taking the photo. Was it a candid, off the cuff "in the moment" shot or was it formal, posed, planned for? I wonder about what camera the photographer used, whether the subject of the photo was happy about their photo being taken.
Photos of previous generations of my family, who I never met, cause me to really ponder on who they were, what their life was like and what (if any) elements of them have been passed down to me through the generations.
So, I'm all for digital. But, I love the idea that in years to come, someone somewhere will be searching through an attic, garage, shed or cupboard and they'll come across a print of an image that I've captured of someone they knew or loved and that, in that moment of discovery, that photo will cause them to think, to feel and to maybe find out something new about the people captured in the frame. Maybe that will tell future generations more about us than the millions of digital images with bunny ears and peculiar pouting. I hope so!
Could I be the one to capture your moments?
Visit www.sarahdunwoodphotography.co.uk to see my work and to contact me for bookings.
Alternatively, I can be found on Facebook (@sarahdunwoodphotos), Twitter (@DunwoodSarah) and Instagram (@SarahDunwood) – please feel free to contact me on any of the platforms that work for you.
