OLD PICTURES

I had to look through all of our old pictures the other day, trying to find ONE in a pile of thousands.

In the process, a few questions and conclusions came to mind....

A) My family takes LOUSY pictures! Heads are cut off regularly. There are subjects that are questionable as to WHY take the picture in the first place. Some of the lousiness can be credited to being out of focus. What makes that more incredible is that the cameras back in the day were NOT adjustable for focus... ugh. 

B) A LOT of pictures were developed that would be instantly deleted these days. Unfortunately, back then, it was like Christmas at the Salvation Army. You opened up the package, with much anticipation, only to be mostly disappointed at what was inside. 

C) Who ARE these people????? Soooooooo many faces that go unidentified, makes you wonder if you accidentally opened another families memory box. No names written, no info or anything on the back. Ugh...

D) Pictures were of TERRIBLE quality. Colors fade fast. Details are lost in the lack of sharp focus. Lighting adjustments were unheard of. Some photos are so abstract it makes you think of a confusing painting. 

E) Pictures in a pack but not with the matching negatives. Or none. I guess folks back then knew already that the pics were terrible so no need to make ANOTHER copy. 

F) Some pictures have dates. Some do not. Consistently inconsistent. 

G) What's up with all the different sizes???? Some are square, some are long, some are bigger, some are smaller. You have no prayer of organizing this mess in a standard binder.

H) Storage itself becomes a problem. Everything was initially scattered in multiple boxes in various rooms in more than one house. Ugh... When it's all dumped in one box, it becomes a nightmare. 

I) Black and white pictures????? I, for one, don't see the artistry in LESS color. It only looks to me like we were poor and couldn't afford the additional cost associated with the "modern" film of the day. 

J) Wow... so many folks in these pictures have passed away. Makes you wish you could just jump into the picture and have a conversation with a long-gone relative..... AND give the photographer some tips!! 

K) Why am I using letters in listing these points???? 

L) Clothing and hair styles have CHANGED. I knew I wasn't cool back then, but now I know even the cool people look sketchy. 

M) Why do the pics from the 30's and 40's look much better than those from decades later???? The people may look way older than their years, but the actual photograph is usually clear and crisp... unless they were taken with a phone in the FUTURE... hmmmmmmm.... 

N) Why did we keep all these LOUSY pictures???? Did we think they could be salvaged???? Did we not know how bad they were??? I got rid of over HALF that should never been taken.

O) The pictures I actually DID keep in photo albums are now falling apart. Is the life span THAT short????? Is the guarantee still good???? 

P) I understand fully why film cameras lost out to the digital ones. Why did anyone think otherwise? Life is sooooooo much easier for taking pictures... except when you realize that the 10,000 photos on your computer need organized! Ugh....