It comes once a year. Faithfully and without question. Here in the USA, in
two days we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. A holiday, for most people,
that is an excuse to pig out on fattening foods, watch football (the real
kind, not soccer--Go Lions!), and get together with family members that you
are thankful it's only once a year you have to see them.
But in many cases, it's an opportunity to be with people you do love and
appreciate. Unfortunately, in most decent-sized family gatherings of 25-30
and a mix of older relatives, there is probably a 50% liklihood that
someone won't be alive the following year or there will be some
life-changing event involving one or more.
Photography is a means of freezing a moment or event in time. It's an
opportunity to lock in memories of people. A picture may capture only an
expression or a time-slice of life in an artificial environment (we don't
eat and gather like this every day). But what it does do is trigger
memories for the viewer of the photograph. As you photograph and make
prints, DO write on them who is in the picture.
This Thursday, my own mission in life will be to document this family
gathering. Time is getting short for several people who will be there. The
kids are also growing up. As has been my habit for the past couple of
years, this is a film affair for me. I will be using an OM-4T with 50/1.4
as my primary camera. Film will be Fujifilm NPZ (800). No flash, no
motordrive, just a low-profile camera setup that helps me capture the story.
I document a lot of important events every year. But photographng family
gatherings is among the most important.
AG
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