Today’s Post by Joe Farace
For those of us who lived here through the terror attacks and their haunting aftermath, 9/11 has become a permanent part of the DNA of New York City. You see it, feel it, remember it, think and talk of it every day.”—Dennis Hamill
In the world that we live in know I that that it’s important for photographers, at all levels, to use their technical and aesthetic skills to photograph their older friends and family. They should make the time and effort to display and preserve these images in an album or website so future generations will know what these people looked like in contemporary surroundings, not just in old, restored photographs.
I’m always surprised when people spend time and money restoring old photographs of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents after they’ve passed away but little time making snapshots and portraits of them while they’re still with us.
Mary Farace made this photograph (at right) of her parents on the occasion of her mother’s ninetieth birthday using a Nikon V1 and 1 Nikkor VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens (at 30mm) with an exposure of 1/250 sec at f/7.1 and ISO 1600. It captures, I think, the love these two people have for one another.
The most precious gift anybody can give is photographs of the people they love. Make the time to photograph your kids; make portraits of your mom, dad, or grandparents so these images can be shared with future generations. Don’t forget yourself. Have your own portrait made, framed and give it to a loved one; they will cherish it.
And never, never forget that photography is the universal language and use it to make friends for all humankind.
PS. The above image is especially poignant these days because Mary’s mother’s oncologist recently said that her Mom only has one or two more year of life, at best. So this is an image that we will treasure for some time.