Part 3 in my series, what does photography mean to me? Carlie has been my dear friend for years and, even though I don't see her often, she has had a huge role in my life. She currently lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Dietrich, and is the creator of a great blog, Fat Soul Slim Kitchen. Check it out for awesome tips on cooking, finances, and everything in between.
As I walk through my living room and glance over at the almost 50 different pictures fixed on just one wall, my eyes hang longer than intended and my mind is in a million different places.
My attention swings to my bookshelf to see the 12 photo albums made within the last decade and then to the scraps all over my kitchen table of the most current one I am working on. Like many others, I then sit down to regularly spend more than I projected clicking through me and my friends’ albums on Facebook.
My family has always been picture people. Every shelf, every wall, and every room of the house I was raised in has framed captured memories about them. It may be that, like me and my house now, my mom loved being surrounded by people – even if only their still faces. I love the comfort that these moments bring.
It is all about connectedness. Each of those pictures captured a moment where we were with someone or went somewhere or did something meaningful to us that made us glow. Now, except for Dietrich and my apartment, I don’t see most of these people or places every day or even every month. And against my wishes, some I may only see once a year. But when I hang that moment we had together up on my wall, I am reminded of our connection any time I open my eyes.
Surely I’m not the only one who gets a good case of the forgetfulnesses once in a while and can’t seem to remember that I have friends and that my life is filled with many good times. When the busyness of life takes over for a spell or its winter and no one has left their house in weeks except for work, their faces, silent but shouting with joy, keep my spirits lifted as though they were right here with me.
Though we do not get to greet each other every day or have buckets full of laughter once a week, I remember the giggles, the jokes, the comfort, the excitement, the relaxation, the music, the long trips, the snoring, the heat, the cold, the shouting, the food, the sunsets, the craziness, and of course, the love and experience once again that connection and the friendship we have.
Copyright Katy Martin Photography
