I have thousands of what’s described by these words: “Where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and time’s forever frozen still.” (Photograph, Ed Sheeran) Click – a lens opening and closing, exposing light-sensitive film to an image, capturing the impression of a single exact moment as it happened; the colors, lighting, expressions – perfections and mistakes. What hopefully was captured and what actually was would be unknown until the pictures were printed, so take a few, maybe in one, everyone’s smiling with their eyes open, or maybe not! The saying, you can’t stop time, is true, but not for photographs. “I had rescued the moment by using my camera, and in that way had found a way to stop time and hold it.” (The Lovely Bones) Rescued, as in unable to dissolve in a second. Stop time, turning “here one second and gone the next” into here. Hold it; the ability to hold a second-long impression in time, literally in my hands. What is captured? Events, celebrations, funny, beautiful, interesting. Why? To keep memories alive. This is why cameras are laid to rest at funerals. Each heart, mind, and soul, gently rescuing a unique set of “long past” impressions, meaningful enough to last a lifetime.
A Widow's Walk 