Legacy

Today is world photography day. That got me thinking about not only what this daily blip thing means to me, but also the photography legacy that I have.

Blip started as 2 month commitment. I would allow myself to buy a digital SLR camera if I'd use it everyday for at least 2 months by joining blip.

It's now a personal journey, a rich tapestry of my life. Scores of photos of my late parents that I would never have taken if it weren't for blip. Photos that hold meaning and memories I'll never forget. Great joys and intense pain, all are recorded, even if only I know what they mean.

Over 10.5 years later, just like blip, my journal has evolved. For the sake of my eye health I limit my screen time and mostly use my smart phone over my camera to blip.

I've learned to trust my brain, heart, and soul to deliver my daily blip. Camera clubs aren't for me. Blip allows me to wander through the corridors of my mind and eye, and to find satisfaction rather than perfection. I can experiment without limits and to do what works for me.

Blip reminds me not to take myself too seriously and to take seriously the challenge of pausing to smell the roses. In other words, to see what I would have missed if I didn't blip and to reflect on what I am grateful for each day.

From the late 1920s onwards my great Auntie Mamie used this No. 2 Folding Hawke-eye Special (made by Eastman Kodak Ltd) to take copious photos of my Mum's family. She was my Granddad's sister.

Auntie Mamie lost her sweetheart in WW1. There was no one else and she never married. She died when I was 6 years old and I remember her clearly. She rode a bike and had a camera. A woman after my own heart.

Her photos bring me to tears, for the wealth of visual history they've gifted us, her photographic talent, and for the sacrifices she made. The camera would have cost a considerable amount as did the cost of getting films developed.

My Dad also had an interest in photography. He took photos of our family on 35mm slides. I remember the excitement when a small brown packet arrived in the post. Inside was a plastic box containing the newly developed slides. Sadly this means that we have fewer photos of him as we grew up than we have of Mum because he was always behind the camera.

For several years he belonged to a bird watching photographic club. He set up elaborate systems at home to photograph baby birds being fed by their parents. I remember him standing on the piano stool looking out a high window so he could see when to to release the cable.

He and Mum would host slide evenings where he'd show pictures from their overseas trips. I was always enthralled so he edited them well. Inevitably he'd show a handful of funny family slides at the end.

Ninety years later here I am in a digital world my auntie could not have imagined. I'm immensely grateful that my Mum and Dad were able to be part of my blip world before they passed away.

I am literally saving my life, one day at a time.

Happy world photography day everyone.

Today's gratitude: For the warmth of the sun.