Disposable memories

Just cannot do it.

Can't, I tell you, can't.

Need to. Really need to.

But, but, but...

These old computers at the office need to have space cleared up. I need to trash files. Need to get rid of old stuff

I  tried. I really did.

But I made the mistake of opening one of the old files, a picture file.

Pictures. Oy.

Ever looked at pictures of your great-grandparents? Ever look at old Polaroid pictures of yourself (if you are that old)?

Love them pix, right?

OLD PICTURES

Years ago, we had more than a bushel of old print photographs at the office. We opened the box to the public. People came in left and right to look through the pix for images of themselves, family and so on.

David Baldwin took the remainders and tried to get them to people who'd appreciate the pictures.

Pictures matter. They take us back. They remind us how far we've come. They tell us stories.

DISPOSABLE MEMORIES

I have image files in this computer I write from that are 20 years old. I open them every now and then and resave them.

Why? To make sure the format is current, Make sure the computer can still open the image. Make sure the software is a recent version.

This is important. I have electronic files that I can still open. The most modern version of the creating software will not open the original files.

Our pictures are disposable memories these days. Snap one. Post it to social media and forget about by tomorrow. Change phones, lose phones, clear out old pictures to make space for new ones. Disposable.

SAVING THE PAST

It was not always so.

In the course of a year, I probably take 10,000 pictures or more. Digital. That is 10,000 instances frozen in time. That is 10,000 points of time recorded for .. all eternity? No. A few minutes? No. A few months? Getting closer. A year or three? Yeah. That's it.

When we still used film, if I shot 40 pictures in a week, that was HUGE.

Hours in the darkroom. Chemicals that could peel the hide off. Develop. Stop. Fix. Dry. When everything was done, clip the negatives and file 'em.

We saved the past.

Not any more.

Shoot, dump, pick, edit and trash the rest.

Gone forever, unless it makes it into an archive.

Many people have said once it gets online, it is there forever. It only seems like it. Websites come and go. Images get lost; they really do.

How many pictures have you lost over the years to system upgrades, computer crashes, lost or replaced phones, dead SIM cards?

Yeah.

Disposable memories.

So, I just can't dump these old files. These pictures mean something to someone.

I wish I knew how to get these pictures to the people who will appreciate them enough to save them for future generations.