Pose. Click. Post. This is how we do pictures in the digital world now. Gone are the days when we have those film strips and have them developed and placed in photo albums. But I have one, which compiles pictures I had in high school and recent pictures in college. I started to keep this album since third year high school but I started compiling since grade school. When we transferred to San Fernando in La Union, I lost most of my pictures. I became frustrated and from there I stopped. It was in third year high school when I realized that pictures are starting to accumulate again and compiling them is not a bad idea.
So, I decided to make a scrapbook/photo album and now I consider it as one of my most valued possession. Creating and keeping it had showed me how creative, happy and unique I am. First, it showcases my creativity, if there’s such. I categorized the pictures and each category should have a unique theme. For instance, a page for my lunch buddies would have a theme about foods. I did the letterings too for the title blocks and captions of the pictures. Each page, as much as possible, should have a different font or style from the other, so, I need to exhaust all the fonts that I know.
I also made some of the templates and frames of the pictures. I used scrapbook materials and cut-outs from magazines and tried to turn them into something worthy to be called as frames and templates. Aside from proving that I have creative juices in my body, it has also proven how happy I am. Every time I flip those pages and take a glance at each picture, I cannot help but smile. The album is a concrete evidence of how happy my high school life has been. It contains class pictures, both formal and wacky; pictures from Christmas parties and other school activities; and random pictures of me with my friends.
It reminds me that there are people who have entered my life and caused a curve in my face which was captured by the camera. Finally, not everyone today has a photo album or a scrapbook or a combined one. It is rare to find nowadays someone who is still keeping such especially a teenager because these require patience and effort. Now there are a variety of gadgets where photos can easily be taken and/or kept. Most would not resort to printing the pictures because it is expensive compared to uploading them in the internet which is for free.
Unlike before, photos today are no longer printed instead are kept in the computer or posted in those social networking sites. Photo albums had been a part of our lives. It is where the parents had kept their child’s baby pictures which were shown to the relatives every time the family has reunions or gatherings. But photo albums today are like old books, forgotten and are kept in those dusty shelves. Everything changes and every day we are one step closer to the future. But it won’t kill us if we take a look back and bring something with us, like a photo album, as we go on with our journey through life.
