Shutter Sisters

reflect, remember, recycle

By

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I think this is quite possibly a blog crime, but I have opted today not to write a new post but instead, encourage you to read a post I wrote back in December. Gasp.

See, us Sisters wrote posts for this blog before we officially launched so there are some treasures back there in the archives that have barely seen the light of day. That plus this being Earth Day and all, makes me feel OK about recycling.

So, why this particular post? I just think that all sisters of the shutter can use a little encouragement now and again, to keep on keepin’ on; vigilant family historians, cameras at the ready, tirelessly lugging around the extra weight of the glass/plastic/metal that is our creative tool, even amidst the criticism of others—

When are you going to put that camera down?

Mom! No more pictures! 

You’re not taking your camera, are you?

Today, I want all of us to remember that our work as Shutter Sisters IS significant.  Can I get an amen?

Comments

  2. It’s the thing (family photos) that most people take for granted because the memories are always there in black & white. (or color for that matter) But we know how important our job is to keep the past present… Memories fade, stories change, but pictures can last thru through the generations. True & as they always were….

  4. Amen, sister. I hear the same comments from my kids! "Why do you ALWAYS take pictures?" I cherish the faded sepia prints from my great grandparents’ time, the bent black & whites of my parents’ childhood, and the fuzzy polaroids of my fifth grade field trips. I couldn’t imagine moving through life without my camera.

  9. You can hear an amen from me! Amen! I have great "memories" from my childhood…things I can’t possibly actually remember, because of the slides my father took all the time when we were growing up. I’m hoping to do the same things for my boys.

    And your shot on this post? Breathtaking. Brings back so many great memories!

  10. Amen, mama. Amen.

    Our family albums were something I perused constantly. My mom wrote a caption under each and every one, in her perfectly decorative handwriting. A few years ago, the albums were beginning to fall apart. My father asked me to transfer the photos to new albums. I knew it had to be done, but I didn’t want to toss the empty albums away. Even they meant something. The skinny, black leather one with gold trim. The short, fat blue one. The crazy one, with bright multi-colored flowers on it, and had a strange way of opening up.

    So I cut each caption out of those old albums, and carefully taped it under the corresponding photo, in newer, sturdier albums.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/strawberrygoldie/2434138988/

    All these old photos, they give us a glimpse into life as it used to be. They trigger memories we thought we’d forgotten.

    Photography. How powerful it is.

  11. right on, sister! i love that old post. our persistance behind the camera becomes the story of themselves that we are documenting. the way they perceive who they are, who they were, and the story of who they will become.

    happy earth day!

  13. I just found your site, and found it very interesting. I have lazy days also, and cant come up with new comment, and sometimes recycle old shots, but very few people catch it. Posting kinda forces me to shoot more often though.

  15. Amen, absolutely. My family is always laughing at me as I shoot seemingly random objects throughout the house and am constantly in their faces with my camera.

    they don’t always understand that i need it. it brings me peace and happiness.

    happy earth day!

  17. Amen, sister! Loved that old post, and love the picture on this one — the warm, soft weight and lovely smell of a newborn on your shoulder…OK, maybe I’d better stop before I start crying! LOL

  18. Love the post you recycled, I recognize myself as a kid (and still) looking in the albums mom made for me. I love looking, not only at the photos of me, but of relatives that looks younger than now, the rooms we lived in and how my parents looked back then! I totally agree with you, it is soo important to document – family time especially!

  20. amen, amen, amen.

    There are times I feel badly, made uncomfortable when I think I’m "overdoing it" — because though I’m shooting for my family and my friends too — I’m mostly doing it for me.

    Maybe that’s not so wrong…

  26. There are so many photos of my childhood that have been lost over the years and this saddens me. I’d love to be able to view them again and have those memories resurface. This is probably why I too take so many pics of my son, only I am more organised than my parents about keeping them!! I wish that I had a ‘Mom, stop taking my picture’ shot to share *lol*

  27. Amen! At the young age of four my oldest daughter LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to look at pictures she asks lots of questions and later says "Mom do you remember…". I love it. It makes carrying the camera around, and listening to comments like "do your kids know what you look like without a camera?"even more worth it.

  29. Just wanted to thank you all for such an excellent site. I have been an occasional visitor in the last few months, and have always found an appealing freshness and vulnerability in the images.
    Thank you
    Tony