Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Photos Now and Then

I can't even count the number of photos I've uploaded to my computer, but there are probably thousands of them. Since we don't need to pay for film and to have it developed, or figure out complicated camera settings and flash bulbs we take lots more pictures than people did a few decades ago.

My great grandfather was a picture framer and had a shop next to a photographer's studio in the 1800s so I've got quite a few family photos from that era. Of course I have wedding portraits of my parents and all my grandparents, baby pictures of me and my brother, annual grade school photos, and lots of pictures of my own kids and grandkids.

Some of the older photos are framed and on the wall with UV protected glass to keep them from fading. After all, they're over a hundred years old.

But that makes me wonder if the pictures I take and upload to my computer or save on memory sticks now will be available for future generations to see. Chances are the technology will have changed so much my grandkids' pictures may not even be viewable by the time they grow up and have kids of their own.

Even if I print photos out, the ink may fade by then. For that reason I've been taking a few of the ones I'm sure I'll want to be available in the future to the local drugstore and having them printed out there. It doesn't cost much and I hope future generations will be glad I did it.

How about you? What are you doing to be sure pictures will be viewable in the future?

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