27.4.11

photographic memories




... teaching myself photography
  &
being involved in online communities like flickr,
{to mention only but one of the very many}
which I happen to consider the most communicative and educative one at the same time,

make it alsmost impossible to forget the value of photography as a form of art.

Undoubtably there are numerous artists out there which create breathtaking pieces of art,
putting into use:
~ a fabulous sense of perspective
~  an eye that sees more than what is commonly noticed,
~ an eye that is there to serve the heart and the mind,
~ and then come the mediums,
~ a lens & a camera body, 
~ film and of course today 
~ digital photography & post processing.

Not to forget the most valuable ingredient in creating stunning photography,
{allow me to exclude from this discussion night photography}
a good appreciation and use of natural light.

So, photography as a form of art ~> checked

...and then comes the madness of our consuming societies,
with victims like myself, who try hard to prioritise and buy the essentials,
resisting overconsumerism and buying just for the mere pleasure of it 
{oh how often do I fail!}
while at the same time being insanely in love with beauty & style.
Quite hard to achieve my goal, considering the endless possibilities offered around us.
And lately, it's even easier, with just the click of a button,
on a virtual shopping cart.

...to get right back to my point, had it not been for gorgeous photography accompanying the products,
had it not been the super clever advertising methods of "selling people dreams",
most of us would harldy be so tempted.
But as lots of us are visual types, we are enjoying our dosis of "eye candy"
and indulging in it.

Therefore, photography as a means of advertising and promoting products: ~  also checked

All fine and all well, but in between all this, could it be that we have perhaps forgotten a little bit the simplest of the purpose that photography serves?
That of keeping memories alive.

I remembered this morning...and searched to retrieve this picture {3rd in the row above} of my mother & seven year old me...somewhere on Easter vacation in one of Greece's breathtaking places.

...and then with Mother's day approaching, I couldn't help thinking that together with every present that we'll come up to offer to our mothers, wouldn't it be nice to include an old photo of us together?
Or perhaps, arrange a fun visit to a photoboot together and make new ones...
...and then as nice as you are {and hopefully a little handy},
 build her such a displaying board,
as the one seen in the second picture {above}.
Finally, a simpler gesture, to buy and offer her such a romantic picture as {this one}.

What do you think? 
Are you still in touch with this fundamental purpose of photography?
Are you going over old family photos once in a while, 
as much as you loose yourselves among visual candy?
Are you displaying some of your favorite pictures,
 related to you and moments of your life?
Are you cherishing fragments of your past, 
as much as your present and your future to come?
...meaning are you cherishing all that you are?

recently I have...and it seems to be unlocking step by step many of the blockades,
which came up intensly and shouted to me to start dealing with them.

And now my boss {in this case myself} is urging me to work and deal with my projects,
after publishing this post and wishing you a lovely day ahead.
Have a great one!

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Photo credit: 1. Lucy Snow Photography 2. via 3. Stratos Nassopoulos {aka my dad}

5 comments:

  1. Lovely post.

    Well, my camera has become an extra appendage everywhere we go lately. I'm either photographing puddles or people and in the end I hope that I'm combining the art and memory aspects you discussed. (Sometimes I'm just annoying everyone else in the family by lagging behind and trying to get the perfect shot...)
    Another angle on this discussion: involving an absent person in one's memories. I've been taking, editing and hopefully today--printing photographs of my children to send to their Grandma (my mother) who is very far away over the North Atlantic. Although she has missed a year of their lives, in its way, photography bridges the proverbial gap.

    Have a lovely day, yourself.

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  2. Beautiful post....I love the photo taken by your father.....it brings back memories of photos of my mother and I...something so personal yet also so universal...beautiful blog...thank you so much for including one of my photos...Lucy Snowe

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  3. I love this post! I started out wanting to be a photographer, but got away from it when everything started going digital. I'm recently starting to get back into being more creative with the camera, documenting all of the sweet moments in my little nephew's lives, as well as trying to tell a story with simple, every day objects. As Rod Stewart once said, "Every picture tells a story, don't it?" ;) That's the beauty in photography- while the photo you take may be capturing a moment in time, and your special story, it is there forever for the rest of the world to illustrate their own stories with.

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  4. love these photos Ivy and the one of you and your Mom. I love looking at old photos too and the memories that they bring. I carry my camera every where I go and now getting addicted to the iphone camera too. LOL wishing you a wonderful day and week sweet Ivy xo

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  5. Your comments have touched me deeply and the fact that you took the time to come, write and share here has brought me a sense of ususal happiness.
    THANK U all very much, xo Iro {Ivy}

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