Photo Generation

I think it’s probably a fairly safe bet that anyone reading these blogs is -- more than likely -- at least past 50.

(With maybe one exception)

But now that I have a 13-year-old granddaughter, I’m continually struck by how much Life has changed since I was about her age.

So many, many changes... But one of the biggest is the number of childhood and early adult photos taken of us.

Today – with the advent of the smartphone in 2007 and its built-in camera – photos are now coming out of our ears! (Boy, that’s an OLD expression…)

Some smarties who were assembling those new smartphones must have thought: “Hey, why not add a camera feature to make this device even more addictive and an indispensable extension of our personality?”

And thus, you now have your selfie, your Tik Tok, your Instagram, your Twitter and all the rest of the social media madness that completely dominates the lives of our young.

They seem to spend all day and night taking photos of themselves and their friends and sending them to each other. Fortunately – unlike the OLD DAYS – the photos don’t have to be made from film taken to a pharmacy or photo kiosk to be turned into something we could look at days later.

And how many of those developed photos turned out blurry or otherwise unsaveable – that we paid hard-earned cash for just to throw away?

No, today we live in The Digital World, and if we don’t like a photo, we simply delete it.

Easy peasy, as some might still say. (There’s ANOTHER old expression – sorry)

Now, turn back the clock. Remember when we were growing up and how often OUR photo was taken?

Maybe you grew up in a family in which one of the parents WAS a shutterbug. (Damn, there’s another OLD expression)

In that case, perhaps there IS a treasure trove of photos of you as you grew up. But I suspect that kind of family was definitely in the minority.

No, much more likely you grew up in a family like mine, where a photo taken of us was from a special occasion, i.e., a birthday or graduation or a prom date shot. Or maybe opening a Christmas present, or wearing a silly Halloween costume.

But compared to today’s kids, virtually none.

Neither me nor any of my three brothers had our OWN camera growing up, and handling our folks’ camera was strictly verboten.

We just didn’t think about taking pictures of ourselves (virtually impossible with the cameras of the day) or of our friends. We were too busy being out in the world playing and just living our lives without feeling the need to document every second of it.

If we were lucky, our parents (who were definitely in charge of the camera) were caring enough to grab a handful of shots of us before we left home.

And to view those precious childhood moments after we were gone, we’d have to go back home, sit down next to Mom or Dad and crack open the old photo book.

But it’s OK. Times change, and so does our relationship with the camera – which generally declines as Time keeps knocking the stuffing out of us. (Oops, there I go again – sorry)

No, cameras and photos ARE for the young, when we’re still cute and attractive.

So have at it, kids. You’re only young once.

And smile for the camera!