face book
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 09:11AM 
My ex reading a book
It happens every so often, of late most usually at the insistence of the Cinemascapist, that I haul out a medium-size shipping box full of old Polaroid pictures. Sad to say, that box is what passes for a family album, circa 1975 - 1995.
On the other hand, one of the qualities of Polaroid pictures that I appreciate very much is their physical ability to resist all kinds of abuse and/or mishandling - you could, as an example, use them as drink coasters with complete impunity. Consequently, just throwing them in a box as a form is "safe-keeping" is actually a legitimate form of preservation.
The added advantage of a box album is the serendipitous fun that results from sticking your hand into the pile and seeing what you find - none of that chronological organization for me. I much prefer a herky-jerky trip down memory lane. I find that bouncing around through past time with pictures is very much like past time presents itself to my memory in my head.
I don't think that that is very unusual. I mean, how many of you have your memories "filed" in chronological order (or any other kind of order) in your head?
I must say that, if I am granted (at my life's end) the opportunity to peacefully reflect upon my life, I hope that box of Polaroids is close at hand.
Reader Comments (4)
I was at a few parties/ meals with friends over the last week. I took a lot of pictures and for a change actually got some of them printed out, at a local CVS, via one of them magical Kodak print station thingumy automatic printing machines.
29c per print (because I wanted my instant gratification) and they are coated to be waterproof, fingerprint proof and generally a whole lot less fragile than I remember photographic prints being a few years ago.
I'd forgotten how much fun it is passing around a stack of 4x6 prints between people who laugh at how silly each other looked the night before and remembered how much fun they had.
I really like this photograph Mark. It has a very 1970's, young family, semi-hippie vibe to it, at least to my eye and sensibilities. Lots of questions floating around in my head while I view it too, one of them being "is she naked?"
I almost remember the texture and smell of that hot wheels / choo choo train organizer that is sitting on the floor.
Hey Mary - if memory serves me sell, she was nearly naked although this picture gives impression of totally naked