I've been photographing for over 20 years now. In those years, I've taken thousands and thousands of photos. I'm synchronising them to the Google Cloud, rarely looked at again.
Social media platforms reminds you every now and then of a moment from years ago, showing you a photo taken on that same date. They bring back memories you didn’t think about for a long time of a holiday or another nice event.
I'm not using social media (apart from Hive), so I don't get these triggers, but it did make me realize that many special moments are hidden in your photo collection. And that’s a pity, if you ask me.
In home decor, coffee table books have become a bit of a trend. These books often aren't meant to be read, but are used as decoration.
We have a book filled with beautiful nature photography lying on a cabinet in our living room. It’s a real eye-catcher and often draws attention of people that visit our house. I keep it on a cookbook stand and flip it to a new page every week, so there’s always a different image on display.
It’s a simple thing, but it changes the atmosphere in the room. One week it’s a calm landscape, the next a wild animal in close-up or a striking composition.
I really liked this dynamic and it gave me an idea...
I recently found out that in Windows 11 you can use a photo folder on your PC or laptop to create a slideshow on your desktop background. And they can also be shown when your PC or laptop is locked. You can set the interval the photo's change. I've set it to once a day, but you can even set it to 1 minute.
I've been through a my photos in the cloud storage and downloaded a selection of them that I would like to see as a wallpaper. It was really nice to go through these photos and it really brought back some good memories.
Now both my personal as my work laptop are showing my photos on the desktop and lock screens and it's nice to see your own photos every now and then. I've already had a few positive comments on my backgrounds from colleagues too. It's fun to tell them I took all these photos myself.
During the search for wallpapers I came across a lot of other photographs that brought back good memories which, for several different reasons, weren't suitable for a wallpaper. This brought me another idea.
I know, I know; an analog photo frame isn't a new idea. Many people have them in their house. But I just have so many photos with memories, I would need hundreds of frames. And yes, I know there also are digital photo frames nowadays, but these are just not my thing.
So what I did is buy a photo frame that can easily be opened. A photo frame of which the back and front are kept together with magnets. This way you can easily change the photo.
Then I printed a couple of personal photos, put one in the list and hung it in our coffee corner in the kitchen. I keep the rest of the photographs in an envelope on the shelf. Every now and then I, or anyone else from my family goes through the photos in the envelope to select a new photo for the frame.
Every time I'm getting some coffee or tea, I'm reminded something nice.
And when we create a new memories, we capture them on film, print them out and add them to the envelope.
The picture below is one from a family holiday of a few years back in de Vosges region in France. We did a via ferrata (rock climbing) with the family. It was a tough climb, especially for our oldest daughter who likes these adventures, but also is afraid of heights. This photo on a very high and long suspension bridge at the end of the trail was a real achievement for her and a memory of a great day and a very lovely holiday.
Do you ever go through your 'old' photos? How do you keep good memories alive?
What do you think of my ideas?
Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
