I scanned in this photo today of me, for the possibility of using it in a project I wanted to submit. I took into work my whole photo album (my grandmother made it mainly of photos of me) filled with all kinds of memories, but this photo is by far my favorite in the album. My dad was an amature photographer (kinda like me) and liked to take photos of my brother and I (they usually involved us peeping out from behind a tree smiling or touching a tree and looking contemplative – there are several photos of me doing that throughout the album). Anyway, the reason I like this photo so much is that the beauty of it is that I’m not “made up” for the photo. I love the way my hair is tangled and messy and that my expression is not forced…it’s me just being authentically a 4 year old in thought. I don’t think studio portraits can capture that the way everyday photos can.
As a child, everyone used to say to me, “Where did you get your big brown eyes?”, to which I replied, “My daddy”. I think it is interesting to look back and see how I have changed in appearance (not quite so big brown-eyed now) and I love seeing other people’s photos from their childhood. It’s funny, but there are so many people that I am close to that I have no clue as to how they looked or acted as a child. I think photos give that rare glimpse into that world and I totally appreciate them.
You better believe that if I ever have a kid, they are going to have a camera in their face a lot. I know that may be annoying, but I think they will love looking back later and be able to cherish those photos. I know I do.
nice blog