Working my way through the Pittenger Family slides, the year 1972 is completely scanned. Gretchen turned 11 that year, about the same age Duncan is now. Just a few years more and the slides will be complete. Here’s the whole set from 1972 on Flickr.
The question is, “Why scan so many photographs?” I’m in various stages of scanning Gretchen’s family photos, my family photos, and, of course, my own pre-digital photos. There are several reasons, the most mundane of which is “security”. You hear about people grabbing photo albums whenever disaster strikes. I would like to think that if I had copies on Flickr and duplicate CDs with family, that I would grab the dog or kids instead.
It is also a way to bring order to and tell the story of a life…whether it is mine, my father’s or RCP’s. Back in the film days, the decision to push the button and trigger the shutter came at a cost. It is interesting to look at the pictures and try to imagine why that moment was important. Was it artistic? Was it recording family events? Looking back at my early photos, I want to explain what was going through my mind: why I took the picture and why I kept it. The old photographs are judgments…decisions on what was important at that moment to that person.
It is probably also a manifestation of an obsessive/compulsive disorder.
Filed under: Family | Tagged: history, old photographs, scanning, slides, vintage
