You Ought to Be in Pictures!

As I am sorting through family pictures that span about 100 years, I marvel at the quality and frequency of some of the photo shots. Today it is nothing to snap a picture on our digital camera or even our cell phones, view it, send it, email it, print it, or even post it for the world to see. To get those family pictures of the 1890s through 1930s, the subjects had to go to great effort to be dressed appropriately, attend a professional photo gallery, and probably wait weeks for the finished pictures. Another item of note is that not one of the subjects is smiling in those photo gallery/professional photographed pictures. They all look so sad as if it pains them to be photographed. How refreshing it is to view the photos that were taken by family or friends. The smiles add so much to the face value as well as photo value. And the authentic clothes, be they poor or dramatically out of fashion, tell us more about the lives of those in the photo. The rat's-nest-hair of a pre-teen (me) allows us to know there is hope for the future.