Your Role as a Photographer and Family Historian

Adobe Stock

by Skip Cohen

One of the most significant benefits of the Internet and social media is our ability to share things that move us. Last week, Ed Heaton on Facebook posted the piece below written by poet and author Donna Ashworth. So, whether you're a professional photographer or just a parent doing your best to document those moments that grow in poignancy as your kids age, NEVER slow down capturing those memories.  

On that note, there's nothing else to write—just read the piece below and cherish your very special role as a family historian!

​The Taker of the Photo

I am the taker of the photos…I am the receiver of the groans, the eye-rolls and the hurry ups.
I am the one who disrupts the ‘moments’, to capture them. And sometimes it’s hard to be that person.
But I am also the holder of the memories…I am the one who keeps the precious proof.
I am the bearer of the stories, the maker of the photo books that bring tears, laughter
and love rushing into the room each time they are opened. 
And if you are too, please know you are capturing this life, as it happens.
You are capturing stages, ages, twists, turns and last moments no one could have foreseen. 
And generations to come will thank you for it, even if no one does right now. 
The eye-rolls will be replaced one day with absolute all-consuming gratitude,
for the image of a smiling face so missed and a memory returned home to stay. 
Keep disrupting life to capture it my friends, when it’s all that is left,
someone somewhere will be so very glad you did.

Donna Ashworth from Growing Brave