Revive From Archive: Physical Prints

A few weeks ago it was World Photography Day. I found out a little late in the day, so rather than taking a new photo that wasn't that meaningful, I thought it was a perfect time to revive one of my photos that had been a little lost in the archive.

On that day, it was also opening day at the CNE and it reminded me of a photo that has been described by my hobby photographer husband as one of the best photos I have ever taken. It was taken in 2004 after a mother and daughter day at the CNE where we went to see the Canadian Idol top 5 perform. While leaving, my daughter paused at the fountain. I had a zoom lens on my camera for the concert so had to step back quite a way, but with a quality camera (Nikon SLR) I captured a beautiful photo of my daughter. The lighting and the colours were perfect. In my photo album, I framed it with blue and pink paper to match my daughter's outfit.

We got an 8x10 print and enjoyed seeing it on the plate rail of our dining room for years (top left below). 

When I purchased very long Monet prints at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris a few years ago, I replaced the framed photos with it. Sometimes when we keep the same photos on display, they become part of the background that we don't appreciate them anymore. I thought that putting the photo away for a while would make it more special when I revived it.

I took it out of my photo album to scan it, so now I have a digital copy. I changed the date of the photo in my photos app so that I can find it by going back to 2004 (years from now, it will be easier to remember approximately the date of the photo than the date I scanned it). If I had my photos in folders on my computer, I would have added it to a 2004 folder to find it again more easily.

When I was trying to find the photo in my photo collection before realizing that it was pre-digital camera, I found another photo from 5 years later when we tried to recreate the moment.

I love connecting these two separate days together to notice how much taller my daughter got and that her love for blue hasn't wavered, even to this day. Unfortunately we didn't recreate it this year, but this is a reminder if we're ever by that fountain, to replicate it to add more meaning to this location and these moments. I love "then & now" moments.

It can feel overwhelming to think of reviving every meaningful moment. I find that I'm more excited about reviving moments when there is added meaning in the present. Reviving moments one at a time makes it a more manageable process.