Saturday, December 4, 2010

Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer!

Hello, my name is Kimberly and I am a photo fanatic.

Well, kind of.

See, I absolutely love pictures. Especially ones of people. I love looking at them and I also enjoy taking them. They make me happy.

So I was really excited when my mom said she had a coupon for 50 free prints at Costco. I made an album on Costco's photo web site and my mom ordered them. They were waiting for me when I went home for Thanksgiving break. I was so excited. You have no idea.

Now I have 50 more photos taped to my wall, desk, and the wardrobe next to my bed. They border the window and trace a square pole thing going vertical over my bed (It's really weird and I don't know how to describe it. I'll take pictures... of my pictures.). I look at them and smile. My hallmates come in my room and also get excited that I have new pictures.


This got Samber and me to thinking... what is it about photographs that make people happy? When I look at my own personal photos of friends and such, I smile because they remind me of good times. Good moments have been captured and the photograph is a reminder. But I also really enjoy looking at pictures of people I don't know and probably never will know. So do Samber and quite a few of my other friends. Why?

There are so many web sites and books dedicated to photographs as well. One of my favorites is weheartit. It's a website for photos that people love. If you've ever thought "I wish there was a spot where I could just look at all the photos I've 'liked' on Facebook all in one place," then this is probably a web site you'd like. Members "heart" photos and they then go on their profile. Here's mine: http://weheartit.com/circustricks

There's so many different types of photographs though, and I love almost all of them. My hallmate and friend, Michelle Baba, says "Photo booths are the funnest because you can just be goofy and not have to look good." This is so true. I love going into photo booths. Back in freshman year of high school, my friend Katie DeTemple and I went into a photo booth with our Orange Julius samples and I made my cup look like an elephant trunk. I'm... really cute. Silly pictures in general are pretty great because there's really no pressure to look good.

Speaking of pressure to look good... Man, I wish I was photogenic. Do you also wish to be photogenic? Well, watch this video of a girl as awkward as I am trying to be photogenic! TIPS INCLUDED, YESSSS.


Wasn't that enlightening? No? Er... sorry... Moving on!

I cannot stand posing for pictures if nobody else is in the frame. Senior pictures would have been absolutely dreadful if I didn't know the photographer. I wish I was like a mannequin so the photographer could just position me exactly as they want. Good thing I don't get my picture taken often... That's ONE reason I could never be a model (there's also the fact that I'm about seven inches too short, don't have the right body type, don't know what angles work for me, and lack an uber amount of confidence). Phew.

Samber also enjoys looking at other people's photos because it gives you a glimpse into their life. She told me that when she looks through friends' albums and sees other people, then she knows the people in the pictures are important to the person who has the picture. Something that I now agree with but hadn't thought of before was Samber saying "I also like seeing pictures of people before I knew them. It's interesting to see what's important to them."

All the pictures in my dorm room and the people in them are very important to me. I hope nobody looks in my room, seems pictures of them, and thinks "Wow, creeper, much?" Because it's not really a shrine... It's just daily reminders of happy times and significant people.

These are two more areas where I have photos!

So to those of you who are also photo fanatics, I want to know a few things.
Why do you like pictures?
Where do you store/display your pictures?
What do your photographs mean to you?

And anything else you'd like to share.

Signing off...
Kimber

2 comments:

  1. Sorry the layout is so weird, btw. This looked a lot better when I was putting it up... haha.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The layout doesn't look weird... It looks nice :)

    I put all of my photos on the fridge :)

    ReplyDelete