23 (UNNECESSARY) EXCUSES TO DOCUMENT YOUR TIME ON EARTH:
April 6, 2018
- you’re 30 weeks pregnant and glowing, huge, but glowing
- you’re having a home birth and expect your well meaning partner might pass out, but you’d like the event documented
- you want a record of your new baby’s first days at home
- your little family does the same thing every morning and you want to remember the ritual
- you’re having a party because… it’s a full moon / your neighbours are away / you cleaned your house for once / you’ve got a new partner and you think they’re great
- you just got a new dog or lamb or pig (not strictly human’s but very close and you can be in the photo too)
- you think your partner is stunning, even though they don’t think so, and you want to show them
- you’re having an event to celebrate diversity or equality or the impending apocalypse
- your daughter is 13 and doesn’t see herself the way you see her
- you’re about to propose to your partner and you know you won’t remember the moment because you’re nerves tell you you’ll black out the whole thing
- your partner said ‘yes’ and you can’t wait for the wedding to celebrate, so you’re throwing an immediate engagement party
- you’re marrying your best, sexiest, friend in an intimate gathering of family you like and friends
- you’re involved in planning a festival and want the punters documented
- you’re going on a holiday with your… netball team / sisters from other misters / cousins / colleagues …and don’t want everyone on their phones
- you want a decent photograph of yourself for… your CV / online presence / tinder profile / personal collection
- you just started business and your iPhone photos of your product look only half decent, and your Instagram feed is a drag to get content for
- you’re having a reunion with… all your buddies from school / the rotary gang / the honeys from university / your old colleagues from 15 years back
- you’re celebrating the beginning of retirement with some bevs at the bowlo
- your grandpa is getting ancient and you haven’t visited enough
- your gran can still bake a cake for 10 grandkids and you know this won’t happen forever
- your oldest friend is getting ill and you want to remember as much of the time they have, in case they don’t recover
- your pop is coming up to his final days and you want him to meet your babies
- your great-uncle passed away and you know that a lot of old family and friends are going to gather to mourn his death and celebrate his life
The bottom line is — life is short, and full, and difficult to grasp; so, if you’re a person – like me – whose memories are drawn from experiences we have photographs of, then at least make sure those photographs exist.