SINCE the invention of the time machine still seems to be a dream, photographs can help in taking one back in time, though only mentally! Going though family albums is a nice way to get together with dear ones.
Photographs take you down the memory lane and give you a chance to admire or make fun of yourself and others. No matter how stunningly attractive you have now become, you always have an embarrassing picture in the family album that you forgot to tear, shred or destroy. Some pictures from the past are always there to haunt you — all those extra pounds clearly captured by the camera are the telltale signs of days of hogging on junk food. The embarrassing evidence is waved in your face like bitter truth. It’s either your clothes or hair or body that is the target of other’s jokes.
We have a large collection of photographs of ourselves and our family and friends. And mind you, these are besides the awful ones that I burnt down to ashes. It is easy to get rid of the undesirable snaps that we have taken ourselves but what does one do about the photographs taken by others? Well, I guess we just have to live with those ugly ones sitting pretty in someone else’s album and people laughing at your funny expression each time they look at it.
Generally, I like getting my pictures taken but I hate going to the photo studios to get a mere picture snapped. The man with the camera has all the power to make you look better or worst than what you really are. He gives you so many instructions that all you can think of is getting over and done with the whole task. A soft little smile won’t do just as an ear-to-ear grin is a no-no. One can manage a fake smile but what can one do to hide the bored-to-death expressions in the eyes! No matter what you do, the photographer finds a fault or two with your pose. I would welcome all the trouble wholeheartedly if the end result is worth appreciating, but it rarely is. Bad photographs can make you have doubts about your looks.
Another thing that I have noticed is that whenever I have to get a special picture taken on a special occasion, I always find a big, red pimple on my nose tip or cheeks. And if it is not this, then it is a bad hair day or something else that ruins the whole picture.
Last year, my right cheek puffed up like a balloon due to toothache a day before I had to get a picture taken with a blue background for the new national identity card. I used many tricks to hide it but all in vain. Now I have to live with that photograph all my life, unless a new policy comes up and the card is changed. Though what soothes me is that almost everyone I know complains of not looking good in their new computerized identity cards.
Though the digital camera is the coolest gadget for photo freaks these days, it is difficult and expensive to have hard copies of photographs taken by these cameras and it is no fun looking at snaps in the computer only. Nothing can beat the feeling of flipping though the pages of a photo album and admiring the contents anytime and anywhere.
The most wonderful aspect of photographs is that they are a wonderful way to preserve precious moments and relive them.
SINCE the invention of the time machine still seems to be a dream, photographs can help in taking one back in time, though only mentally! Going though family albums is a nice way to get together with dear ones.
