Years ago I created a collage
of favorite photographs.
I glued them in a haphazard way on top of a big old ugly $15 dime store print that once hung over our couch.
Even now I think it was a great idea and I remember pasting away and thinking, “How artistic if I do say so myself!”
I loved it so much that I eventually had the collage framed and was assured the priceless photographs were safely under protective glass.
“This collage of family and friends will live on through generations,” I thought.
And yes, that inventive impressive self indulgent collage is over the desk in Bill’s “office.”
And every now and then I look once again at a dimming past.
Literally!
Some of the photos are not only dimming,
they are disappearing!
Many of those faded fotos in my collage were taken with an early Polaroid camera in the 1960’s or maybe even earlier. The miracle was that the camera itself would process a picture and spit it out for at you. Then you waved it in the air and blew on it to “set” things – or at least I did.
I suppose being under glass and exposed to sunlight would “unset” or affect images. Or maybe I shouldn’t have shaken the photo to hurry things along.
Is there a Polaroid camera now with a re-set button?
I want to hit RE-SET!
The fading fotos from yesteryear are following my life cycle and we will all fade away together.
Are you watching your life fade away too?
If you are wondering if they even make Polaroid cameras anymore, the answer is Yes! Instant film is coming back into popularity!
From Polaroid’s Comeback, by Mark Rogers, Photographer: “Polaroid cameras have recently been coming out of storage. …With instant film so popular, there are now once again hundreds of these small, square-shaped photographs around — and your favorites should be preserved and displayed the right way. Just like standard photographs and prints, instant film can suffer the same damage as standard film. However, a little more care should be taken when handling the still-developing film — according to Polaroid, the more closely the photographer followed the instructions, the longer the photo will last. Tip: Shaking the photo does not help a Polaroid develop faster. In fact, it could actually damage the developing photograph!…Standard photography preservation practices apply: keep the photos away from light, heat and moisture; most organizations maintain that Polaroids will fade in as just as much time as conventional photographs…”
Find someone with photoshop and try to get the collage pics restored before they completely disappear.
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I got this camera for a Christmas present when I was six. I was a swinger! Are we supposed to be looking at Ali McGraw’s bottom half, or the camera???? This always confused me.
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Well Dor, please don’t fade away. I love you being there so far away and yet close in all that matters
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Sadly, my life is fading away like those photos! I have seen some younger people using the photos. What a novelty for them to hand a friend a photo instead of sending one on their phone. You were rather creative with your collage, Dor! I am sure you husband still enjoys it. Cheers!
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I’ve noticed that early color prints fade quite readily. The black and whites seem more stable. I reckon there must be companies that restore photos by taking new photos of the old and restoring the color digitally.
It does seem a metaphor for our lives, which sadly, in time, do fade away. But let’s not dwell upon that!
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I wouldn’t have thought shaking a Polaroid picture would hurt it. That’s too bad. Enjoy the photos while they last.
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I so enjoyed seeing that video Cindy! Thank you. And I agree about the confusion on Ali McGraw or the camera ….. 🙂 LOL!
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Glad you enjoyed the fading fotos project coastal crone. Bill and I are both still enjoying looking back to the good old days…. 🙂
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“Close in all that matters.” I love the thought Judith and am hoping one day we will meet in person too. 🙂
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And isn’t it odd that some of the pictures taken even before I was born have stayed crisp and bright. But you are right, most of them were black and white.
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It’s wonderful know that Polaroids are coming back in style.
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I feel sad when I show my children and grandchildren photos of my childhood; the photos are so indistinct and dark: not like the sparkling new ones of the 2000s that they’re used to seeing.
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I have very few pictures of my parents. A few years back I took my old favorites to a local photo shop and had them “restored” and digitalized. It wasn’t expensive and at least I know that they will keep as long a technology doesn’t outpace them.
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Your photo collage looks pretty clear to me Dora and I am looking at it with one closed eye because of an accident I had yesterday. by falling on my face whilst walking Koko .So my left eye is very black and blue and swollen. Its lovely to have old photo’s I have some old black and white and some coloured from some 50 plus years ago I get them out often but then it makes you feel your age doesn’t it. How many more have you got Dora besideds your collage?
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May be you should frame it behind a glass.
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I have some old photos that are fading too and they aren’t all Polaroids. I got my very Polaroid Swinger camera at age 12. Thought I was a fine photographer with it. Now I laugh at the photos I took. P.S. I did my fair share of shaking too!!
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And digital photos last forever, or so they say…. 🙂
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Smart girl! I may look in to that but some of the ones behind glass in my collage are “gonners.”
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Oh, I am so sorry about your fall and the eye Rita! Did Koko yank you or did you trip on something? May you heal quickly. As for the photos, I have many others beside the collage that are loose and need sorting, as well as album after album. The last album ended in 2012 I think when I went digital like the rest of the world and the photos from then on are floating around in cyberspace. Be well! 🙂
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🙂 Thank you Joshi! 🙂
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Once again, we share similar memories! 🙂
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Hi Dora, I tripped and fell on the left side of my face .There was a small ridge we had never noticed before where a cable was running through it.John went back to see and that is what he found, I think it is an internet cable..I have been walking this flat road for 7 or more years and never noticed it. Koko just stood by me he was not pulling and I had let go the lead. We went straight to the hospital for a CT scan etc., Anyway I am O.K. and my eye is a lovely black and blue with shades of yellow .God knows how long it will take to heal. Thanks for your kind thoughts Dora..By the way that’s about how many photo albums I have which also need sorting.
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Some that I had retouched turned out disappointing too. They can’t fix what isn’t there.
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I remember polaroid cameras fondly and flapping and blowing on the photo as it dried. 🙂 Your metaphor of fading photos to life is very touching, Dor. As photographers I think we are sentimental about old photos..I know I am!
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Hi Dor! Was lurking on Facebook and saw your post! I had some old photo’s of my mom and dad when they were young. They were very very faded and I thought we’d all but lost them. I took them to Costco and for $32 a photo, they restored those photo’s beautifully! It was worth every penny! I know your son would appreciate making sure those memories are preserved (wink wink). xoxo
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I hope your eye is healing quickly Rita…. what a shock that must have been and wasn’t Koko wonderful to stand by you! You are so fortunate to have John and that sweet dog looking out for you. Be well and be assured you are thought of all this way across the world. 🙂
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Sentimental is the right word for how I feel about the old photos. They capture life in that one second and have stories to tell.
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What a great thing to know Emmy! Thank you for sharing. I had no idea Costco did that. 🙂
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Thanks Dora, I think its healing O.K. now the bruise is fully out from over my eye to the bottom of my chin. It will take some time but I feel O.K. Koko keeps looking strangely at me but is clinging to my side wherever I go. He is so adorable. And of course John is fussing like a mother hen. Have a great weekend.
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🙂 I am so happy for your recovery and you deserve all that pampering too.
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