Recording History!

I've been getting used to my new Huawei camera phone, since I bought it a few weeks ago. I've been wanting a decent camera for a while now and did a lot of research before buying this one, after all spending near on a thousand pounds is a lot of money to commit to a piece of electrical equipment. However with 'Roaming Brit' going from strength to strength, growing daily, I think it is an important investment. This top of the range mobile is superb in every sense; I haven't been disappointed.

Photographs are an essential part of my life. Not only do I enjoy taking them, but I am also spending a lot of time scanning old family photo's into my computer. These memories are crucial; with Mum and Dad still around, they can tell me much about the people in the pictures and add to the story of our family, which becomes more important day by day. Knowing ones ancestry and seeing the relatives who make up our tree is truly special; pictures bring stories to life!

An old school friend messaged me a few days ago, commenting on the vast array of snap shots I have and was complimentary about the time I put in to cataloguing each and every picture, recording a brief moment in time, that in their words they 'hope my family will enjoy for many years to come.' I have been asked many many times before about my camera obsession and can only repeat my attachment to recording history.

I will often sit down for an hour or two and go through my photograph collection, which measures and incredible 5tb... that's around ten million photographs! Looking back over old memories is a deeply rewarding experience. Much of my life, spent on various bipolar meds has become a blur and rather hazy, but today, healthy, fighting fit, without medication and able to see past the difficult years, I am able to look back at periods, I would have otherwise forgotten. Pictures are all I need as I grow older, they are links to memories that fade within us all. As my collection continues to grow, I am glad I made the time to document my life, especially today when so many others I knew, partied along side and attended events with are looking around for snippets from their past!

The pictures I take of my family, living here in Portsmouth are very different to the ones I would have taken with my Kodak Instamatic in the 1970s and 80s. The grainy, out of focus, over exposed shots have been replaced by crisp, clear true to life photo's that record important milestones perfectly. Today I always have my camera phone with me, so capture every single detail of my life for posterity. There are very few pictures from my childhood, just baby snaps, school photographs and a few odd pictures from events I can't recall. Currently I use my camera everyday, whereas previously I may have used it for only important occasions - sadly I have forgotten what happened in between in the main, in 2019, I haven't omitted a thing!

Whether you are flicking though an old photo album or scrolling through the camera roll on your phone, it is important to keep looking, keep remembering and keep a connection to the past alive. If like me, you enjoy making memories, you don't need reminding about the importance of chronicling your life. If you haven't yet began to build your own collection, don't leave it too long, time isn't going to wait for you!

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