The first title of the Partakers.Net blog was, “Killing Time: Pity the person who has not yet begun to live for eternity.” With that mindset, it’s been somewhat difficult to deal with the fact that, as a photographer, my product is pieces of paper. How long does paper last? Most of it doesn’t last very long at all before it gets consigned to the landfill. Not much substance to stick my eternal fork into. My current printer’s ink combined with archival paper and proper care is rated to last more than 100 years – a good long time, but still not eternal.
Recently I was reminded, however, that photographs often outlast the person depicted in them for at least a generation or two, maybe longer if properly cared for. And it’s often the photographs left behind that define a life for later generations. I have several pictures of my maternal grandmother who died before I was old enough to remember her. Those pictures and a few stories ARE my grandma, not in the sense of her soul being captured by the photograph as some believe, but in the sense that they are the only representations I have of her life. Add a few memories of my own for my other grandparents, who have all died long ago, and all of the sudden, those photographs take on a significance that I haven’t thought about nearly enough.
So, it was with quite a bit of surprise that I got home from a portrait session recently, and as I was looking through the images for the first time, I kept sensing this little whisper in the back of my mind . . . . “Look . . . . look.”
“Look at what?”
“Look.”
And then I saw it. In a glance between husband and wife, I saw that ephemeral aspect of their lives that truly does represent something eternal.
I got to capture THAT moment? Yes – that moment of joy is now captured for a lifetime and more. What a privilege!
Now that I know it’s there and that it can be captured, I’ll be on the lookout for those eternal moments.
AWESOME post Bea! What a great outlook on what you do. I’m glad we could be part of it.
I love the new site design too!