Picturing You, Picturing Us
December 9, 2024
Writer: MaKenna Atkins
Editor: Sky Friedman
Beauty surrounds us in everything we do and everywhere we go. It envelopes our senses, and we cannot help but want to capture it and hold onto it forever; that is exactly why we take pictures. We take pictures of sunsets splattered with pinks, purples, and oranges. We frame snapshots of tremendous waterfalls and mountains. We even record ourselves holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. All of these moments capture the visual beauty of life and provide us with a sweet satisfaction when looking back on them in our camera roll. Although these kinds of photos are important to the overall remembrance of life, there is another type that evokes a much different kind of feeling.
Candid moments of human interaction supply our souls with a gorgeous reminder that love and happiness exist even within the smallest of spaces. Filling your camera roll with the fond memories of sharing stories and the laughter that entails around a full dinner table, eagerly waiting for a friend to open the present you picked out, especially for them, and even mid-baking sessions when the counter is dusted with various ingredients and nothing but the grandest of smiles occupy the faces of the bakers. With every moment like this captured by a camera, we gain access once again to the emotions felt when the photos were taken.
My family is fortunate enough to have an endless supply of these candid photos, and it is all thanks to my father. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small family outing or a large gathering of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins- my father will be there making sure we have records of the special time spent together. Through his occupancy of the role being the picture-taker, he has sacrificed his spot in every single picture that he takes. At first, I would pester him and ask him to get in the shot with us, but he always politely declined and always said that there was no need because everything he wanted to remember was standing right in front of him. I started to realize that no matter how many times I asked, he would always sacrifice his spot in the photo just to capture a moment of his family that can be remembered and cherished by all, forever.
Because of my dad’s reluctance to be in these kinds of photos, I have made it my personal goal to fill my camera roll with all of his candid moments. Seeing my father’s little moments scattered throughout my camera roll never fails to make me smile and fill me with warmth, knowing that he has his own special moments now too, and they will live with me forever. I believe that the picture-takers in our lives are so much more than just picture-takers; they are people who value their loved ones so much that they cannot help but want to capture their moments of joy, their moments of excitement, and their moments of pure happiness. I think this is where the truest of beauty lies: it lies within the eyes, minds, and hearts of the ones taking our photos.
Going into this holiday season, I urge the ones who are normally in the photos to turn the camera around and show some appreciation to the ones who find value in taking photos. They deserve to feel just as important as they feel you are.
Image: Chloe Sinel
