No Strangers Allowed

Our life story.  Have you thought about your life story?  Everyone has a life story, some are shorter than others but still filled with wonderful memories. 

Photos are a fabulous place to review and enjoy those life moments again.  But what happens when your photo collection contains photos of people that only your late grandmother knew their names and family connections?  I’ve seen many nameless faces in photo frames and albums in my local antique store. 

When I look at these lovely unwanted and unloved photos, I’m troubled over the loss of their life story. I wonder where do they belong, will their life story be missed, why did they have this photo taken, did they spend hours getting ready for the photo, was the photo taken in their home or did they travel to another town hours away or did they pinch their pennies and save their money so that they could afford this photo? Did they ever image that their treasured photo would be forgotten and discarded in a pile of vintage memorabilia and that they would become the stranger in the box?

The Strangers in the Box

Come, look with me inside this drawer
In this box I've often seen
At the pictures, black and white
Faces proud, still and serene.

I wish I knew the people
These strangers in the box
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among the socks.

I wonder what their lives were like,
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I'll never know their ways.

If only someone would have taken time,
To tell who, what, and when,
Those faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate
Of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be tossed away.

Make time to save your pictures
Seize the opportunity when it knocks
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in the box.

 Author: Pam Harazim

Come and join us on Sept 26^th for tips and information on how to avoid the Strange in the Box syndrome from afflicting your family. 

www.saveyourphotosday.com

Save Your Photos Day - Sept 26th, 2015

Did you know there is an International Save Your Photos Day?

Sept 26th 10am until 4pm;
Badenoch Community Centre
Puslinch, ON

Probably not because this is only the second year for this annual event. It is supported by the Save Your Photos Alliance.

About Save Your Photos Day
This international event is for people who love their photos and appreciate the fact that photos tell our stories and that every life story is worth preserving and sharing.

Photography has changed so much lately with so many additional challenges.  The reasons why we take photos today has not changed but the number of photos we take has increased significantly.  People are feeling overwhelmed, not only with their wealth of digital photos but also with their print photos, slides, VHS and camcorder tapes and film reels that are hiding in their closet or they have inherited.

Save Your Photos Day was started as a way to provide education and tools to help people organize, preserve, share, restored and protect their treasured memories from (heaven forbid) unforeseen loss from large and small accidents, fire, floods, computer crashes, etc.

Event Details
Our event is being held on Sept 26th, admission is free and it begins at 10am and ends at 4pm at the Badenoch Community Centre in Puslinch, ON.  We have numerous guest speakers who are experts in their field, plus free photo scanning, free kids portraits and more.  Keep watching for more blog updates over the next few weeks.

So stay tuned for more Save Your Photos Day info! 

If you are unable to attend our event, 

you can check out the Save Your Photos Alliance website at

www.saveyourphotos.org for additional locations.