I was watching the Hallmark movie Haul Out the Holly last week and there was a part of the story where the main character had a Polaroid camera. It was a flashback to when she was young and took photos of the Christmas celebrations in her town. It got me to thinking that I also have a Polaroid camera.
It was very late and possibly midnight, but in a fit of nostalgia I dug through the cabinet doors of the hallway built in, to find my Polaroid camera. There it was in its carrying case as pristine as ever. I knew there was film left in it because a number of years ago I took it to work with me as part of my tourist Halloween costume. I stood in the corner in my pajamas and lined up my camera in hopes it might still work and snapped a photo of our Christmas tree.
Nope. It didn't work. Well, it did take a photo but because the film cartridge has its own battery power it was likely so old that it just didn't want to work to its potential. So, the two photos which were left didn't want to pop out nor were pictures visible.
Bummer.
A quick perusal of Amazon, London Drugs, and the Polaroid website told me that yes, indeed you can still buy Polaroid film in a vast array...for $29.99 which I suppose isn't that bad for some thing so retro. But hold the train, that only buys 8, yes, EIGHT, photos.
Yikes.
I have 1000 photos saved on my iPad alone.
The difference is that besides sharing them on Facebook or Instagram, no one really sees them. Gone are the days we'd take a roll of film to be developed only to find out weeks later how the pictures turned out. We'd save them into photo albums and haul them out to show family members and guests. One of the favorite activities at my In-Laws is to look through old photos and hear the stories connected to them. I don't remember a Christmas as a little kid at my Grandparents where there wasn't at least one or two pictures resting on the coffee table waiting for the images to appear. Now we post, share, like and maybe comment before moving on and it's all forgotten.
It's not all bad. If it weren't for social media helping us to see what is going on in each other's lives I wouldn't get to see my friend who lives in Edmonton on the beach in Mexico. I wouldn't get to see my Nieces share photos of their little one's meeting Santa. This last year, when we wanted to gather photos of loved one's remembrance, I dove into the photo albums though.
The last time I had photos printed was in 2019 and at Costco. Now they don't even have a photo department. I made my Husband a collage shadow box of our trip to Utah and Nevada for Christmas that year. It now hangs in our living room.
At work, I take photos of my students and print them myself to post on my classroom wall. They love to see themselves and others who have completed the same music books they have.
Some of you still take special Christmas family photos for the annual Christmas card. Are you planning on taking pictures this year? How will you share them? Maybe this is the year to set them out on the coffee table for the family to enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment