Sharing moments of joy or pain with our loved ones has become a matter of seconds. It takes just a few clicks before we can share our lives through images and videos with anyone in the world.
Not to mention the interaction through comments and shares that follows. But being a part of a generation that witnessed the transition from print to digital photography, I continue to be a fan of printed pictures.
Those were the days when having a camera was a luxury not everyone could afford. A family usually had one camera, before small digital cameras came. Photographs were taken only on special occasions. Those pictures had a special feel and value.
After the first look, we would carefully observe each and every photograph — the pose, the background, the lighting. Though there would be a few misses every time, we would be overjoyed to see our photo shoot turn a success with a collection of nicely clicked portraits
Back home, we have a huge collection of photographs — black and white, coloured and some hand painted, too. For me, those are one of the most valuable things in the house. Despite the errors in print like poor colour setting, bad background, the red eye effect or their worn out condition, they still feel unique and emotional.
As a child, I loved flipping through the old pictures. During those long winter vacations, when power would be cut most evenings, running through old albums and pictures was a favourite pastime. I enjoyed listening to anecdotes behind the pictures of mum and dad.
I, however, always complained I was less clicked than my sister as a child for whatever reason.
With time, photography became a favourite ‘play’ for me and my sister. However, it wasn’t cheap to buy the camera rolls, batteries that exhausted fast and then having them printed from a good studio.
I did not own my camera (couldn’t think of buying it then) and used the family camera, which my father had bought from somewhere in India (we still have it).
We would keep a camera roll always at home. On any random day, depending on our mood, we would start our photo shoot. We would dress up in our new clothes with matched footwear and make funky hairstyles. Once ready, we would move around the house to look for a good background for the shoot.
Our favourite places were stairs where we posed sitting, standing, leaning against the wooden railing, stepping down, looking back and all the postures possible. We also loved the garden in the background, snaps with toys on the bed or playing with snow during winters.
No means of editing
We took turns in taking each other’s photographs. We lost hours in our photo shoots, totally ignorant of the world around us. It was all about dressing up, changing backgrounds, styles and poses. It was exhausting, yet an enjoyable experience.
Since the camera roll had a limit of 30-35 pictures, we had to keep a track of the number of snaps each of us clicked to share them equally. Every photograph taken had to be well planned before pressing the shutter button as there was no means of editing and re-taking.
One wrong click would mean wasting one snap. Sometimes we would finish the whole roll at one go, other times we spared a few pictures for some important occasion or just another day.
Once we shot the full roll, dad would take it for printing to a studio. For us the wait was long, usually a few days before we could have the pictures in our hand. The moment we got the bundle of photos, we would jump for joy. Snuggled together, two of us would first shuffle through them quickly.
After the first look, we would carefully observe each and every photograph — the pose, the background, the lighting. Though there would be a few misses every time, we would be overjoyed to see our photo shoot turn a success with a collection of nicely clicked portraits.
The new, precious photographs would rest on our bedsides for days to come so that we could look at them whenever we wished. It was only when we got bored of seeing them repeatedly that they would find a place in our other collection of photographs.
Today, even as I have more than 3,000 pictures on my phone, I rarely go through them. I still enjoy those worn out photos with no editing or filters.
Sana Altaf is a freelancer based in Dubai.
